Scientists studying the supermassive black hole at the heart of galaxy M87 have discovered the origin of the monster’s powerful jet and photographed the jet and its source together for the first time. Moreover, the observations showed that the ring of the black hole is much larger than scientists previously thought. The Observation was released today (April 26). Nature.

To produce these new results, radio telescopes from around the world, including the Global mm-VLBI Array (GMVA), the National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and the Green Bank Observatory (GBO), Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array, brought together for (TAKING). , the Very Long Baseline (VLBA) and the Green Bank Telescope (GBT).

The SMBH at the center of galaxy M87 is the most recognizable in the universe. It was the first black hole captured in an image produced by Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and released in 2019. The image of its dense dark core framed by a shapeless bright ring made international headlines.

“M87 has been observed for decades, and we knew the jet was there 100 years ago, but we couldn’t put it into context,” said astronomer Ru-Seng Lu of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Max Planck Leader. Chinese Academy of Sciences research group and lead author of the new paper. “Thanks to GMVA, including world-class devices at NRAO and GBO, we’re observing at a lower frequency, so we see more detail and now we know there’s more detail to see.”

Eduardo Ros, astronomer and Very Long Basic Interferometer (VLBI) science coordinator at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, added: “We’ve seen the ring before, but now we’re seeing the jet. That puts the ring in context… and it’s bigger than we thought. It’s a fire-breathing monster. If you think about it, we could see a dragon and fire before, but now we can see a fire-breathing dragon.

Using so many different telescopes and instruments gave the team a more complete picture of the structure of the supermassive black hole and its jet, previously possible with the EHT, and all telescopes were needed to create the full picture. The VLBA provided a complete image of both the jet and the black hole, while ALMA allowed the scientists to distinguish between M87’s bright radio core and produce a sharp image. The sensitivity of GBT’s 100-metre collecting surface has allowed astronomers to recognize both large and small parts of the ring and see finer details.

“The original EHT image showed only part of the accretion disk surrounding the center of the black hole. By changing the observation wavelength from 1.3 millimeters to 3.5 millimeters, we can see more accretion disks and now the jet at the same time. Scientist Tony Minter, GBT coordinator of GMVA “This showed that the ring around the black hole is 50% larger than we previously thought,” he said.

Not only are the pieces of the black hole larger than previous short wavelength observations, but the source of the jet can now be confirmed. This jet arises from the energy created by the magnetic fields surrounding the black hole’s rotating core and the winds rising from the black hole’s accretion disk.

“These results showed for the first time where the jet was formed. Before that, there were two theories as to where they might have come from,” he said. “But this observation actually showed that the magnetic fields and the energy of the wind work together.”

Harshal Gupta, NSF program manager at Green Bank Observatory, added: “This discovery is a powerful demonstration of how telescopes with additional capabilities can be used to fundamentally advance our understanding of astronomical objects and phenomena. A general view of the different types of radio telescopes supported by NSF, the M87 black hole and jet. It is exciting to see them working together as key elements of GMVA to ensure