First-ever picture of a black hole unveiled

For the first time, international scientists working on the Event Horizon Telescope - EHT have produced an image showing the magnetic field surrounding a black hole which is located in the M87 galaxy.

Main Point

In 2019, astronomers working on the Event Horizon Telescope captured the first image of the shadow of the same black hole. The shadow of a black hole is a black area that surrounds a black hole. It is three times the diameter of a black hole. The shadow of a black hole is the point beyond which even light cannot escape.

Now scientists have analyzed the polarization of light in the bright area surrounding the shadow of a black hole. The conclusion of the analysis is that only the presence of strong magnetic fields can polarize vast amounts of light energy.

The new image will help understand how powerful jets of radiation are emitted by black holes.

M87

M87 is an elliptical galaxy. It has more than 15,000 circular clusters. It is larger in size than the Milky Way with only 150 circular clusters. M87 or Messier 87 is one of the brightest radio sources which was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. It is 53 million light years away from Earth.

Event Horizon Telescope

It is a telescope array consisting of a global network of many radio telescopes. The main observational goals of this telescope project are two black holes. These black holes are located at Messier 87 and Sagittarius A. Like M 87, Sagittarius A is also a radio source and is located in the Milky Way's Galactic Center. 

The Milky Way galaxy is quite bright in three places. These places are - Sagittarius, Scorpius and Ophiuchus.

In 2020, Andrea Ghez and Reinhard Genezi received the Nobel Prize in Physics. He discovers that the black hole is the only explanation for the mass and brightness around Sagittarius A.

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