Science & technology

Scientists Release Sharpest Supermassive Black Hole Image

APR 27 2023·Updated MAY 3 2023

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Image credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF/Handout [via REUTERS]

The Facts

On Wednesday, scientists released the sharpest-ever image showing the violent events unfolding around black holes, including the launching point of a huge jet of high-energy particles shooting outward into space.
Reuters
The image — obtained using 16 telescopes at various locations on Earth — shows a supermassive black hole at the center of a relatively nearby galaxy called Messier 87, or M87, about 54M light-years from Earth. A light-year is equivalent to 9.5T km (5.9M miles).
Archive
The black hole, which is 6.5B times the size of Earth's sun, can be seen spewing out plasma jets. This latest observation may help scientists understand exactly how these jets are created, and possibly unlock the mystery of how galaxies form.
Business Insider
"The image underlines for the first time the connection between the accretion flow (material pulled inward) near the central supermassive black hole and the origin of the jet," said Ru-Sen Lu, astrophysicist and lead author of the research.
SHINE
Images could previously capture M87's black hole and the jet it emits, but not the two features together. "This new image completes the picture by showing the region around the black hole and the jet at the same time," said study co-author Jae-Young Kim.
CNN
The size of the ring in the image — which also shows what scientists call the shadow of the black hole — is about 50% larger compared to the first direct image of a black hole taken in 2019.
Space.com

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The Spin

Narrative A

Beyond the historic nature of this imaging — on par with Apollo 8's "Earthrise" — studying black holes is immensely important to understand how gravity and general relativity work under the most extreme conditions and the idea of the so-called "one-way door from our universe." The discovery of these celestial giants, which comes over a century after Albert Einstein theorized about them, shows that humanity is one step closer to figuring out the cosmic mystery that has baffled physicists for decades.

Harvard Gazette

Narrative B

Black holes are the hardest-to-see objects in the universe because they don't reflect or emit any light, which is why each new black hole discovery is historic and exciting. However, quantitative evidence of black holes is still missing, and scientists still haven't recorded two supermassive black holes merging or figured out how the process warps time. These discoveries could happen soon, but the global curiosity surrounding these questions won't be quenched until they do.

Newsweek

Metaculus Prediction

There's a 72% chance that gravitational waves from the merger of supermassive black holes will be detected by November 2027, according to the Metaculus prediction community.