Astronomers have captured the first image showing a powerful jet being launched from the edge of a black hole’s event horizon into intergalactic space.
The observations of the black hole at the centre of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87) could help reveal how black hole jets, which are among the brightest objects in the universe, are created.
“We know that jets are ejected from the region surrounding black holes, but we still do not fully understand how this actually happens,” said Dr Ru-Sen Lu, the lead author of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.
“To study this directly we need to observe the origin of the jet as close as possible to the black hole.”
The observations of the black hole at the centre of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87) could help reveal how black hole jets, which are among the brightest objects in the universe, are created.
“We know that jets are ejected from the region surrounding black holes, but we still do not fully understand how this actually happens,” said Dr Ru-Sen Lu, the lead author of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.
“To study this directly we need to observe the origin of the jet as close as possible to the black hole.”
