Astronomers have traced the point of origin of a jet of material thousands of light years long emanating from the supermassive black hole M87*.
By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron
The galaxy Messier 87 (M87) and a 3,000 light-year-long jet of plasma bursting from its central black hole.
NASA/ESA/STScI/Alec Lessing/Stanford University/Michael Shara/AMNH (picture); Edward Baltz/Stanford University (acknowledgement); Joseph DePasquale/STScI (image processing)
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Located at the center of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87), the supermassive black hole M87* occupies a special place in the history of science books: it is the first black hole never photographed and is at the origin of what NASA called “one of the most astonishing natural phenomena.” Indeed, the black hole spits out a gigantic jet of matter which traces a path 3,000 light years long through the cosmos.
M87* is both a messy and greedy eater: when dust and gas fall towards it, the black hole shoots out powerful jets of charged particles. But until now, astronomers didn’t know exactly where these jets were coming from. In new search published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, Scientists present evidence of what they believe to be the ‘first clues’ to M87*’s jet base.
Using observations from the Event Horizon Telescope, the team examined the bright ring of ultrahot material around M87* and identified what they believe to be the “probable position” of the extremely long jet’s origin.
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The first image of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy. The image was published in April 2019.
Collaboration with the Event Horizon telescope
The results could inform future studies of M87*’s superlative jet and the mechanics of similar supermassive black holes.
“This study represents a first step toward connecting theoretical ideas about jet launches with direct observations,” the paper’s lead author, Saurabh, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, said in a study. statement.
“Identifying where the jet may be coming from and how it connects to the black hole’s shadow adds a key piece to the puzzle and opens the way to a better understanding of how the central engine works,” he said.
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