In April 2019, scientists released the first image of a black hole in the galaxy M87 using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). However, that remarkable achievement was just the beginning of the science story to be told. ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ astronomers were part of this global effort.
Data from 19 observatories are now being released that promise to give unparalleled insight into this black hole and the system it powers, and to improve tests of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, which includes researchers from ±«ÓãÖ±²¥, who produced the first ever image of a black hole, has revealed this week a new view of the massive object at the centre of the M87 galaxy: how it looks in polarized light. This is the first time astronomers have been able to measure polarization, a signature of magnetic fields, this close to the edge of a black hole. The observations are key to explaining how the M87 galaxy, located 55 million light-years away, is able to launch energetic jets from its core.
