In 2017, astronomers set out to observe the invisible heart of the massive galaxy Messier 87, or M87, near the Virgo galaxy cluster 55 million light-years from Earth. Today, thanks to powerful telescope arrays, scientists are finally putting a blurry-yet-mesmerizing face to the name - in all its physics-bending, matter-annihilating glory.A machine-learning technique was used to enhance the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration's image (left) of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87 and produce a sharper image. The theory of black holes has existed in some form for nearly 250 years. This isn’t the last we’ll see of the M87 black hole, as future millimeter-wavelength observations will continue to piece together the chronological story of this black hole while also exploring its many mysteries in future radio images. ![]() ![]() That could mean things other than gas are falling into the black hole, and that a kind of cosmic wind could be causing turmoil in the region. Co-author Kazuhiro Hada from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan also notes that the radiation found in the black hole’s inner region is broader than expected. It is actually consuming matter at a fairly low rate, and only converting a small fraction into radiation. For example, M87’s black hole isn’t as “hungry” as experts expected. The new image also holds a few other mysteries for scientists to explore. The Cosmic Hunt for Primordial Black Holes.“We do indeed see the triple-ridged jet that we knew about from earlier VLBI observations, but now we can see how the jet emerges from the emission ring around the central supermassive black hole and we can measure the ring diameter also at another (longer) wavelength.” “We have gained a new perspective,” says Thomas Krichbaum with Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. Images like this one will help answer those lingering questions. Scientists have theories as to why some black holes behave this way, but aren’t exactly sure if these jets are anchored near the event horizon (that cosmic point of no return) or in some other region within a black hole’s crushing orbit. These particles are believed to be cosmic rays, some of the fastest-traveling particles in the known universe. But instead of falling into a black hole, sometimes particles are jettisoned near the speed of light from the black hole’s polar regions. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to playīlack holes usually gobble up anything unfortunate enough to get in their paths. The results were published last week in the journal Nature. ![]() Using millimeter-wavelength observations pieced together from the Global Millimeter VLBI Array, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile, and the Greenland telescope-effectively turning the entire Earth into a giant radio array-scientists captured both the accretion disk of the supermassive black hole and the relativistic jet issuing from it. But this time, an international team of scientists led by the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, captured some of the stunning drama “jetting” from the center of this same black hole. Today, the world is getting another glimpse. That year, scientists released the very first image of the supermassive black hole lying at the center of galaxy Messier 87 (M87) some 53 million light years away. One of the most mysterious objects in the known universe came into focus ( kind of) in 2019. This image, along with other data, provides crucial evidence illuminating some of the drama unfolding in and around supermassive black holes.A new image compiled from telescope arrays around the world captured the same black hole, only this time, the image included both the black hole’s accretion disk and the relativistic jets spewing from its poles.In 2019, scientists revealed the very first image of a supermassive black hole, one that was located at the center of galaxy Messier 87 (M87).
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