New image sheds light on massive black hole
Credit: ESO Directed by: Angelos Tsaousis and Martin Wallner. Editing: Angelos Tsaousis. Web and technical support: Gurvan Bazin and Raquel Yumi Shida. Written by: Jonas Enander. Music: Stellardrone – Eternity. Footage and photos: ESO/L. Calçada, M. Kornmesser, Digitized Sky Survey 2, ESA/Hubble, RadioAstron, De Gasperin et al., Kim et al., S. Dagnello(NRAO/AUI/NSF), R-S. Lu (SHAO) and E. Ros (MPIfR), Helge Rottmann/MPIfR, Nicolle R. Fuller/NSF, A. Duro. Scientific consultants: Paola Amico and Mariya Lyubenova.
Credit: ESO/L. Calçada, Digitized Sky Survey 2, ESA/Hubble, RadioAstron, De Gasperin et al., Kim et al., R.-S. Lu (SHAO), E. Ros (MPIfR), S. Dagnello (NRAO/AUI/NSF). Music: astral electronic.
A panoramic image of a black hole has been unveiled, which sheds new light on its details.
It is the third known image of M87*, a black hole which is 6.5 billion times as large as the sun at the center of the Messier 87 galaxy.
The new image features a "bigger" black hole because it captures its energetic jet and accretion disk, a disk-like flow of gas. The first close-up released in 2019 focused only on the black hole itself, which is in the shape of a bright-ring-like structure with a dark central region, or more vividly, like a doughnut in appearance.
A new image of M87* is unveiled.
The new image for the first time revealed the relationship between the black hole's accretion disk and the jet.
The image was captured by an international project using 16 telescopes in 17 countries and regions.
"The particles are generating additional radiation as they fall into the black hole, which allows us to have a better understanding of the physical process around the black hole," said Lu Rusen, a researcher at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and leader of the project.
The result was revealed publicly in top scientific journal Nature.
The difference between the first (left) and latest images (right) of the black hole.
