Agence France-PresseMar 25, 2021 09:48:51 IST
The astronauts who took the first real-world view of a black hole have created another unique image, this time capturing the polarized light orbiting the magnetic fields of a star-eating monster. But it’s more than just a beautiful picture. It has never been possible to measure polarization – which causes light waves to vibrate in one plane – so close to the edge of a black hole. The new ideas, based on data collected by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) in 2017, are crucial in understanding how a galaxy can project energy streams thousands of light bulbs out of its heart, reported more than 300 scientists Wednesday in a pair of studies. .
View of the M87 supermassive black hole in polar light. Image Credit: EHT Collaboration
“We are now seeing the next crucial piece of evidence to understand how magnetic fields are carried around black holes,” said co-author Monika Moscibrodzka, an assistant professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands. “Activity in this highly complex space field can drive powerful jets far beyond the galaxy.”
After releasing the historical image of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the M87 galaxy, more than 55 million light-years from Earth, the researchers discovered that a large fraction of the surrounding light was pollinated.
“Light polarization carries information that allows us to better understand the physics behind the image we saw in April 2019,” explained co-author Ivan Marti-Vidal, a researcher at the University of Valencia.
Virtual telescope on Earth
It took several years to process and analyze the data, he said, adding that the result was “a huge milestone.” When light is emitted in hot areas of an area where magnetic fields are present it is polarized.
In the same way that specially handled sunglasses reduce reflections and glare from a clear surface, astronomers can better see the areas around a black hole by looking at how the light is polarized.
This makes it possible to map the magnetic field lines at the inner edge of the black hole.
A subject in a black hole is so dense as to create an area of gravity from which even light cannot escape. At the same scale of compression, the Earth would fit inside a branch.
This makes it difficult to see black holes. They are usually detected by the radiation emitted when their weight draws in surrounding gases, a process known as accretion.
The bright jets of energy and material that extend around 5,000 light-bulbs from the heart of M87 is one of the galaxy’s great mysteries.
Most lie near the edge of a black hole falling in, but some grains escape moments before being captured and blown far out into space.
Million Suns
The innovative image of the M87 black hole and its shadow in polarized light allows astronauts to see for the first time this interplay between a flowing and a subject. abduction.
Of the competing theoretical models, only those that assume a strong magnetic gas are consistent with these new ideas, the researchers said.
The EHT is not a single instrument but a network of eight radio telescopes spanning the globe to create a virtual, Earth-sized telescope.
Even then, there is a lock in an image of the M87’s stunning black hole compared to photographing a stone on the Moon.
There are two types of black hole.
The first form occurs when the center of a large star collapses on itself, creating a supernova. These can be up to 20 times larger than the Sun, but are tiny in space.
The so-called horrible black holes – such as the one that sits in the middle of the Milky Way and most galleries – are at least a million times larger than the Sun.
The results were published in Letters of the Astrophysical Journal.