An exclusive image of the Event Horizon Telescope is the first to collect data after 2017
Recently, an exclusive image of the supermassive black hole that is hidden in the galaxy M87 was released.
The new image has a striking resemblance to the previously released, highly publicized photograph from 2019 (SN: 4/10/19). According to research published on January 18 in Astronomy & Astrophysics, the primary distinction is that the brightest point surrounding the black hole has moved approximately 30 degrees counterclockwise. This can be the result of material sloshing around in the black hole’s accretion disk as it gets consumed.
Other things, however, remain unchanged. The shadow of the black hole and a dazzling ring both seem to be nearly the same size as before. According to Princeton University astronomer Lia Medeiros, this helps corroborate that the black hole present in M87 is the type predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity, rather than being an exotic or unexpected variety.
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“In science, it’s always really important to do the same or similar experiments multiple times,” Medeiros says. It helps “make sure you’re not fooling yourself, and that your results are reproducible.”
Medeiros is a member of international cooperation known as the Event Horizon Telescope, or EHT, which focused on the heart of M87, which is located approximately 55 million light-years from Earth, using a global network of radio telescopes (SN: 4/10/19). All previous EHT photos, including the one of the supermassive black hole at the heart of our own galaxy, were based on data obtained in 2017 or earlier (SN: 5/12/22). This updated image is the first that uses observations from 2018.
The EHT team added the Greenland Telescope, located in northwest Greenland, to their collection in the interim. The new image provides data about M87’s massive black hole that was previously inaccessible due to the technique the researchers employed, known as interferometry, improving with more equipment. The researchers plan to dig in later on. Scientists will be able to better understand the intricate relationships between the black hole’s magnetic field and the plasma whirling around it by collecting data from future images collected in the years after 2018 (SN: 3/24/21).