For the Very First Time, We Can See A Black Hole’s Magnetic Fields
For the Very First Time, We Can See A Black Hole’s Magnetic Fields
In 2019, the first-ever image of a black hole wowed the world. And now, the team at the Event Horizon Telescope has released an updated version, this time revealing how the supermassive black hole looks in polarized light.
In April of 2019 scientists working for the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration stunned the world when they released the first ever picture of a black hole. This photo of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy M87 has since become iconic. But the scientists from the EHT were not finished yet, and after almost two years of poring over their data, they’ve released a new version of their famous photo, one that could help solve a major mystery about black holes.
The mystery involves jets of matter that supermassive black holes can launch off into space at nearly the speed of light. The galaxy M87 has a black hole at its center with just such a jet, one that extends for at least 5,000 light years.
the Hubble Space Telescope captured another jaw-dropping picture of M87 that clearly showed this jet spearing its way across the cosmos.
