Many mysteries are hidden from the first photo of the first black hole from the EHT.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW JERSEY — Foto black hole first made by scientists at the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has been a breakthrough for the world of science. This 2019 photo captured an image of a black hole at the center of the Messier 87 galaxy, about 53 million light years from Earth.
Now, these snaps have opened up a powerful new way to study giant cosmic monsters and test several theories astrophysics the most interesting.
The supermassive black hole at the center of Messer 87, dubbed M87 *, has slowly let go of its secret. Astrophysicists have combed through the vast amounts of data generated by the EHT.
On Wednesday (24/3), several more secrets were discovered when members of the Collaboration EHT reveals a new image of a black hole in polarized light.
The ground-breaking images provide vital information about the magnetic fields that surround the black hole and its distance from the center of the Messier 87 mess. This is the first time a team has been able to measure polarization from near the edge of a black hole.
“The newly published polarized images are key to understanding how magnetic fields allow black holes to ‘eat’ matter and launch powerful jets,” said Andrew Chael, an astrophysicist at Princeton University’s Center for Theoretical Sciences and a member of the EHT Collaboration. CNET, Thursday (25/3).
What exactly is polarization, and why is it important?
Light consists of electric and magnetic fields, vibrating in all directions. Polarized light only vibrates in one direction.
Most of the light isn’t polarized as it leaves a large, bright star or disk of gas and debris around a black hole, but its interactions with dust, plasma, and magnetic fields can cause it to polarize. Detecting polarization then characterizes the environment around the black hole such as M87 *.
The first black hole image provides a sort of blur, orange and yellow halo around the black dot. The light comes from a disk of debris and material that immediately surrounds an invisible black hole.
Some of this material slips into black holes, never to be seen again, but others are flung to the right angles, deep into space in what are known as cosmic jets.
M87’s jet of matter ejected at nearly the speed of light and extends nearly 5,000 light years into space. But how it looks like remains a mystery.
The new observations provide a potential explanation for this. Observations show that the magnetic field at the edge of the black hole is strong enough to push back the hot gas and help it resist the gravitational pull.
“Only gas that sneaks through a magnetic field can spin inward into the event horizon.” said Jason Dexter, an astrophysicist at the University of Colorado Boulder.
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