The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration shows the first image of the shadow of a supermassive black hole in the M87 galaxy in polarized light. Astronomers were able to determine the strength of the magnetic field near the black hole, make an image of the field lines of force, and find the parameters of the plasma. Articles (1, 2) Published in the journal Letters from the Journal of Astronomy, Briefly about the study Says On the website of the European Southern Observatory.

EHT (Event Horizon Telescope) is a global one Very long baseline radio interferometer, Consisting of eight observatories and operating at a wavelength of 1.3 mm. By synchronizing the operation of personal telescopes with atomic clocks and using supercomputers to process data, the project was able to achieve its main goal – for the first time in history Accept Image of the shadow of a supermassive black hole in the center of an active elliptical galaxy M87 See In addition to its fluctuations, scientists have been able to consider Jet Remote Blazer 3C 279. As the project expands and new telescopes are incorporated into its structure, astronomers will be able to develop action waves and Accept Image of the shadow of a beautiful black hole in the center of the Milky Way.

New papers published in collaboration with EHT describe the results of the analysis of polar observations of the black hole of the M87 galaxy in April 2017. Polarized synchrotron radiation carries information about the arrangement of the magnetic field and the properties of the magnetic plasma near the black hole, which helps to test the accretion models of matter into the black hole and the formation of the relative jet.

As a result, astronomers copied the first polarized image of the shadow of a supermassive black hole on M87. The researchers were able to determine the average electron density of plasma in the radiation region near the black hole equal to 10.^4–7 Particles per cubic centimeter, magnetic field strength equal to 1–30 g, plasma electron temperature equal to (1–12) × 10¹⁰ Kelvin. In addition, scientists have been able to estimate the average accretion rate of matter to the black hole, which is equal to (3–20) 10^-4 The magnetohydrodynamic model of the strong magnetic plasma, which best describes the mass of the Sun per year, and the observational data, indicates the important role of the magnetic field near the black hole in the formation of the black hole. A relative jet.

Read more about the scientific significance of the first image of the shadow of the black hole and how astronomers achieved it, read our materials. “Look at the abyss” And “Look beyond the horizon”.