Event Horizon telescope captures never-before-seen detail of black hole jets

Two years ago, scientists working with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) made history with the release of the very first photo of a black hole. The image confirmed many of our ideas about these massive collapsed stars, but the team didn’t stop there. The latest data release focuses on a different target, an active galaxy known as Centaurus A. You’ve probably seen footage of Centaurus A before – it’s one of the brightest galaxies in the sky. You’ve never seen it like this, however.

The Event Horizon telescope is not a unique instrument. It is made up of radio telescopes scattered all over the world. By observing the same object with each telescope, scientists are able to combine data using atomic clock time stamps and many supercomputer cycles. It takes months to stitch the EHT images together, but the results are astounding. We would never have been able to see the M87 black hole with a single telescope, and we have never seen Centaurus A in such detail either.

Centaur A is remarkable because it has an active galactic nucleus. The black hole in the center is busy ingesting matter while projecting a relativistic jet into deep space. This makes Centaur A the closest galaxies that are radiofrequency bright. It is the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky, making it a common target for amateur astronomers.

The image above is one of many Centaurus A takes in the past. EHT images aren’t so visually striking until you understand what these drops are. As seen below, the EHT was able to zoom in on the plasma jet escaping from the galactic core. Despite being 10 million light years away, the team was able to examine the structure of the jet in amazing detail.

These images of the jet are 16 times sharper than any previous sighting. The data seems to show that only the edge of the creek shines. The team notes that only the edges of the stream appear to glow when viewed up close. Some previous analyzes of other black hole jets have suggested this tube-like structure, but we now have more confirmation. The reason is unclear, but it may be due to the edges interacting with the stationary gas clouds, causing them to heat up and glow.

Observations closer to the black hole show that the tube narrows into a cone, but the base is still very wide. This could mean that the black hole’s accretion disk is the source, but some scientists believe these jets must use the black hole’s rotational energy to explode outward with such force. The EHT hasn’t answered all of scientists’ questions about black holes, but it could point us in the right direction.

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