A new image of the first supermassive black hole to be pictured has revealed its swirling magnetic field.
Since capturing the first photo in 2019, scientists have been trying to get deeper insights on the black hole in the centre of the M87 galaxy, which is 55 million light years from Earth.
A global network of telescopes, called The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), released the second photo on March 24.
This time, researchers captured the massive object in polarised light – helping to reveal magnetic fields on the edge of the black hole.
The observations could shed light on how the distant galaxy is able to launch energetic jets from its core.
“We are now seeing the next crucial piece of evidence to understand how magnetic fields behave around black holes, and how activity in this very compact region of space can drive powerful jets that extend far beyond the galaxy,” said Monika Moscibrodzka, a researcher for EHT.
How was the image captured?
Showing the black hole in polarised light helped scientists to see intimate details around the object.
Similar to polarised sunglasses, the effect reduces glare and sharpens the image. The high resolution of the black hole image is equivalent to measuring the length of a credit card on the lunar surface.
Eight telescopes around the world were linked to capture the object.
“This work is a major milestone. The polarisation of light carries information that allows us to better understand the physics behind the image we saw in April 2019, which was not possible before,” said Ivan Marti-Vidal, another researcher.
“Unveiling this new polarised-light image required years of work due to the complex techniques involved in obtaining and analysing the data.”
What is shown in the image?
Newer insights on the magnetic fields will help researchers to understand the mysterious energetic features of the black hole’s galaxy.
The image mapped magnetic fields in extreme gravity, which could show how it is connected to the powerful jets of energy and matter that are emitted from M87’s core.
Energy from the jets extends 5,000 light years from its centre, but most of the matter close to the edge falls in.
Some of the surrounding particles escape moments before being captured and are blown far out into space in the form of jets.
“The polarimetric images suggest that the magnetic fields near the black hole could be strong enough to prevent matter from falling under the event horizon. The gas surrounding the black hole can be easily turned into a jetted outflow,” Ms Moscibrodzka said.
Stunning images from space – in pictures
Helix Nebula is a phase when a star like the Sun runs out of fuel, it expands and its outer layers puff off, and then the core of the star shrinks. This Helix Nebula image contains infrared data from Nasa's Spitzer Space Telescope (green and red), optical light from Hubble (orange and blue), ultraviolet from Nasa's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (cyan), and Chandra's X-rays (appearing as white) showing the white dwarf star that formed in the center of the nebula. All images and details courtesy Nasa
Cartwheel Galaxy: This galaxy resembles a bull's eye, which is appropriate because its appearance is partly due to a smaller galaxy that passed through the middle of this object. The violent collision produced shock waves that swept through the galaxy and triggered large amounts of star formation. X-rays from Chandra (purple) show disturbed hot gas initially hosted by the Cartwheel galaxy being dragged over more than 150,000 light years by the collision. Optical data from Hubble (red, green, and blue) show where this collision may have triggered the star formation.
Supernova 1987A: On February 24, 1987, observers in the southern hemisphere saw a new object in a nearby galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud. This was one of the brightest supernova explosions in centuries and soon became known as Supernova 1987A (SN 87A). The Chandra data (blue) show the location of the supernova's shock wave — similar to the sonic boom from a supersonic plane — interacting with the surrounding material about four light years from the original explosion point. Optical data from Hubble (orange and red) also shows evidence for this interaction in the ring.
M82: Messier 82, or M82, is a galaxy that is oriented edge-on to Earth. This gives astronomers and their telescopes an interesting view of what happens as this galaxy undergoes bursts of star formation. X-rays from Chandra (appearing as blue and pink) show gas in outflows about 20,000 light years long that has been heated to temperatures above ten million degrees by repeated supernova explosions. Optical light data from Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope (red and orange) shows the galaxy.
Abell 2744: Galaxy clusters are the largest objects in the universe held together by gravity. They contain enormous amounts of superheated gas, with temperatures of tens of millions of degrees, which glows brightly in X-rays, and can be observed across millions of light years between the galaxies. This image of the Abell 2744 galaxy cluster combines X-rays from Chandra (diffuse blue emission) with optical light data from Hubble (red, green, and blue).
Eta Carinae: What will be the next star in our Milky Way galaxy to explode as a supernova? Astronomers aren't certain, but one candidate is in Eta Carinae, a volatile system containing two massive stars that closely orbit each other. This image has three types of light: optical data from Hubble (appearing as white), ultraviolet (cyan) from Hubble, and X-rays from Chandra (appearing as purple emission). The previous eruptions of this star have resulted in a ring of hot, X-ray emitting gas about 2.3 light years in diameter surrounding these two stars.