This research shows the first evidence of emission from the relativistic jet (a huge, almost cylindrical structure formed by material being ejected at high speeds from around the black hole) directly with the ring of light, providing information on how the relativistic jet is born from the vicinity of the event horizon. These new results, published today in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, shed new light on the problem of how matter and energy behave around this type of black hole.
"These results confirm what we had already learned from M87*, thanks to the EHT, but they also pose new and fascinating questions about physics in the vicinity of black holes," says Iván Martí-Vidal, EHT member, researcher at the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Valencia (OAUV), located in the scientific-academic area of the University of Valencia Science Park (PCUV) and professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Valencia.
At a distance of about 55 million light-years, in the heart of the M87 galaxy, there is a supermassive black hole with more than 6 billion solar masses. The EHT released the first image of the black hole in M87 in April 2019. That image was taken in 2017. Now, combining this data with new observations taken in 2018 and 2021, EHT astronomers have taken the next step towards understanding how magnetic fields near the event horizon work and change.
"These results confirm what we had already learned from M87*, thanks to the EHT, but they also pose new and fascinating questions about physics in the vicinity of black holes," says Iván Martí-Vidal, a member of the EHT and researcher at the OAUV
"Something remarkable about these results is that while the ring of light has maintained its size over the years (confirming Einstein’s General Relativity) the polarization patterns have changed a lot," says Paul Tiede, astronomer at the CfA (Harvard/Smithsonian) and co-author of the article. "This tells us that the magnetized plasma surrounding the black hole is anything but stationary; it is dynamic and complex, which limits the predictability of our theoretical models".
"Year after year, we are improving the EHT network by adding new telescopes and improving instrumentation and algorithms," says Michael Janssen, assistant professor at the University of Nijmegen and member of the EHT scientific committee. "All these improvements allow us to fine-tune these new results, which will surely keep us busy for a long time".
Between 2017 and 2021, the polarization pattern (basically the shape of the polarized image) of M87* has changed dramatically. In 2018, they are opposite to those of 2017 (that is, exhaling in the opposite direction), to return again to the original direction in 2021. "These results, especially in 2018, were totally unexpected," says Jongho Park of Kyunghee University and a member of the EHT.
Do not miss the video of Ivan Marti-Vidal (OAUV) for Expoinnova 2024
"Such a radical change in the polarized structure may point to several causes, either within the emission region itself, or related to some changing envelope of magnetized plasma," says Ezequiel Albentosa, PhD student at the University of Valencia and member of EHT.
As the EHT continues to expand its observational capabilities, the new findings continue to fascinate both astronomers (who are gaining a deeper understanding of black hole dynamics) and the general public. "These results show how the EHT is evolving into an observatory capable, not only of producing amazing images, but of helping to build a coherent and robust understanding of black hole physics," says Mariafelicia De Laurentis, Professor at the Federico II University of Naples and EHT project scientist.
Source: UV News