"Revealing Strong Magnetic Fields at Milky Way's Central Black Hole"

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, including scientists from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, has revealed strong and organized magnetic fields spiraling from the edge of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, seen in polarized light for the first time. This new view suggests that strong magnetic fields may be common to all black holes and hints toward a hidden jet in Sgr A*. The findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, provide new insights into the structure and strength of magnetic fields near black holes, offering potential answers to open questions about black hole behavior and powering bright flares. The EHT is scheduled to observe Sgr A* again in April 2024, with planned expansions aiming to provide sharper images and movies of black holes, as well as extending the EHT into space to produce the sharpest images in the history of astronomy.