Scientists are beginning to pick apart the data surrounding the supermassive black hole at the center of Messier 87 – an object historically revealed this week as the first black hole ever directly imaged.
It sits 55 million light-years from Earth, and is estimated to have a staggering mass of about 6.5 billion times that of the sun.
Observations from NASA’s Chandra and NuSTAR satellites now reveal it’s also ejecting high-energy particles at nearly the speed of light, spewing material for than 1,000 light-years.
The NASA observations were used to measure the X-ray brightness of M87’s jet, which was then compared with the models and observations from the Event Horizon Telescope.
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High-energy particles that make up M87’s jet are shooting out from a region near the event horizon, and has been observed to be mysteriously dimming and brightening in previous Hubble data. The massive jet can be seen in the X-ray image above from NASA's Chandra observatory
There are many mysteries about the nature of black holes, including why some eject material in these jets, despite being known as inescapable objects.
It’s hoped that the latest observation breakthrough will help to answer some of these longstanding questions.
High-energy particles that make up M87’s jet are shooting out from a region near the event horizon, and has been observed to be mysteriously dimming and brightening
‘X-rays help us connect what’s happening to the particles near the event horizon with what we can measure with our telescopes,’ said Joey Neilsen, an astronomer at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, who led the Chandra and NuSTAR analysis on behalf of the EHT’s Multiwavelength Working Group.
‘Scheduling all of these coordinated observations was a really hard problem for both the EHT and the Chandra and NuSTAR mission planners,’ Neilsen said.
‘They did really incredible work to get us the data that we have, and we’re exceedingly grateful.’
Scientists have lifted the veil on the first images ever captured of a black hole’s event horizon. In a highly-anticipated string of press conferences held simultaneously around the world, the team behind the Event Horizon Telescope revealed the findings from their first run of observations. The glowing orange ring shows the event horizon of M87, in the Virgo galaxy cluster
The event horizon is theoretical boundary around a black hole where not light or other radiation can escape.
When any of that material gets too close to the edge
