- 4503 - MILKY WAY's BLACKHOLE? - A new view reveals magnetic fields around our galaxy’s giant Black Hole. Fresh imagery from the “Event Horizon Telescope” traces the lines of powerful magnetic fields spiraling out from the edge of the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, and suggests that strong magnetism may be common to all supermassive black holes.
------------------------------- 4503 - MILKY WAY's BLACKHOLE?
- The newly released image shows the
surroundings of the black hole known as Sagittarius A*, which is about 27,000
light-years from Earth. The pictures rely on radio-wave observations from the
Event Horizon Telescope’s network of observatories around the world.
-
- Sagittarius A* wasn’t the first black hole
whose shadow was imaged by the EHT. In
2019, astronomers showed off a similar picture of the supermassive black hole
at the center of the galaxy M87, which is more than a thousand times bigger and
farther away than the Milky Way’s black hole.
-
- In 2021, the EHT team charted the magnetic
field lines around M87’s black hole by taking a close look at the black hole in
polarized light, which reflects the patterns of particles whirling around
magnetic field lines. Researchers used the same technique to determine the
magnetic signature of Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* .
-
- Making a polarized image is like opening
the book after you have only seen the cover. Because Sgr A* moves around while
we try to take its picture, it was difficult to construct even the unpolarized
image. Some models were far too scrambled and turbulent to construct a
polarized image, but nature was not so cruel.
-
- What we’re seeing now is that there are
strong, twisted and organized magnetic fields near the black hole at the center
of the Milky Way galaxy. Along with Sgr
A* having a strikingly similar polarization structure to that seen in the much
larger and more powerful M87* black hole, we’ve learned that strong and ordered
magnetic fields are critical to how black holes interact with the gas and
matter around them.
-
- The structure of the magnetic fields around
Sgr A* suggests that the black hole is launching a jet of material into the
surrounding environment. Previous research has shown that to be the case for
M87’s black hole.
-
- A computer simulation of the disk of plasma
around M87’s supermassive black hole shows how magnetic fields help launch jets
of matter at near the speed of light. Scientists say the Milky Way’s black hole
appears to be doing something similar.
-
- The fact that the magnetic field structure
of M87* is so similar to that of Sgr A* is significant because it suggests that
the physical processes that govern how a black hole feeds and launches a jet
might be universal among supermassive black holes, despite differences in mass,
size and surrounding environment.
-
- In the seven years since the EHT began
gathering observations, the collaboration has been adding to its array of radio
telescopes, which is resulting in the production of higher-quality imagery. The researchers aim to produce high-fidelity
movies of Sgr A* that may reveal a hidden jet. They’ll also look for evidence
of similar polarization features around other supermassive black holes.
-
-
June 20, 2024 MILKY
WAY's BLACKHOLE? 4503
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------- Comments appreciated and Pass it on to
whomever is interested. ---
--- Some reviews are at: -------------- http://jdetrick.blogspot.com -----
-- email feedback, corrections, request for
copies or Index of all reviews
--- to:
------
jamesdetrick@comcast.net
------ “Jim Detrick” -----------
--------------------- --- Friday, June 21, 2024
---------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment