The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, the same one that obtained the first image of a black hole, has today revealed a new image of the massive object at the center of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87): how it looks in polarized light. It is the first time that astronomers have been able to measure polarization, caused by powerful magnetic fields, so close to the edge of a black hole. The observations are key to explaining how the M87 galaxy, 55 million light years away, is capable of launching enormous jets of energy from its core.
The results of this new research are published today in two articles in 'The Astrophysical Journal Letters' (here, here and here), prepared by the collaboration… See more