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Event Horizon Telescope

All articles tagged with #event horizon telescope

Astronomers Aim for the First Video of a Black Hole in Motion
science1 month ago

Astronomers Aim for the First Video of a Black Hole in Motion

Astronomers are using the expanded Event Horizon Telescope to capture frequent images of the supermassive black hole in M87—every 3–4 days from March through April—to assemble a time-lapse video of its motion and dynamics, potentially revealing its spin, how it feeds, and the behavior of its jets. Eleven of the twelve telescopes will participate (the South Pole telescope cannot see M87), and petabytes of data must be processed before the video can be constructed, while Sagittarius A* may be too restless for reliable imaging.

Shadow to Jet: Astronomers Tie a 3,000‑Light‑Year Outflow to M87*’s Shadow
science2 months ago

Shadow to Jet: Astronomers Tie a 3,000‑Light‑Year Outflow to M87*’s Shadow

Using the Event Horizon Telescope’s VLBI observations of M87*, researchers traced the base of the galaxy’s 3,000‑light‑year jet to a region near the black hole’s shadow, linking jet launching to the accretion flow around the supermassive black hole (about 6.5 billion suns) and connecting theory to observation. The finding, based on 2021 data and building on the 2019 image of M87*, was published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

First Real-Time Movie of a Black Hole Aims to Decode Galactic Evolution
space2 months ago

First Real-Time Movie of a Black Hole Aims to Decode Galactic Evolution

Astronomers with the Event Horizon Telescope plan the first time-resolved movie of a supermassive black hole, targeting M87 to measure spin and jet-launching mechanisms. By stitching data from a world-spanning telescope network, they hope to move beyond the 2019 image and illuminate how black holes influence galaxy evolution, with data processing and delivery taking months before public release.

Astronomers Race to Film a Black Hole's Spin in Groundbreaking Movie Campaign
science2 months ago

Astronomers Race to Film a Black Hole's Spin in Groundbreaking Movie Campaign

Astronomers using the Event Horizon Telescope plan a spring “movie campaign” to image the supermassive black hole at the center of M87, stitching snapshots into a moving sequence to measure its spin and how it launches jets—insights that could illuminate galaxy evolution—though the data will be enormous and processing will stretch after Antarctic summer.

Dueling supermassive black holes reveal a twisting, magnetized jet in a distant quasar
space2 months ago

Dueling supermassive black holes reveal a twisting, magnetized jet in a distant quasar

Astronomers using the Event Horizon Telescope observed two shockwaves in the jet of quasar OJ287, indicating a binary supermassive black hole system. The shocks travel through strong magnetic fields and interact with Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, producing a highly twisted, helical magnetic field and rapid polarization changes. The findings provide direct evidence of complex jet dynamics, including non-ballistic motions, and demonstrate the EHT’s capability to probe jet physics beyond imaging black holes.

Scientists Observe Surprising Changes at Black Hole's Event Horizon
science6 months ago

Scientists Observe Surprising Changes at Black Hole's Event Horizon

Astronomers observing the supermassive black hole in galaxy M87 have discovered unexpected changes in its magnetic field polarization over several years, indicating a more complex and dynamic magnetic environment near the event horizon than previously thought, challenging existing models and highlighting the evolving capabilities of the Event Horizon Telescope.

Revealing New Insights into Black Hole Dynamics and Behavior
science6 months ago

Revealing New Insights into Black Hole Dynamics and Behavior

New images of the supermassive black hole M87* taken by the Event Horizon Telescope reveal unexpected changes in the polarization of its magnetic fields over four years, challenging existing models and indicating a dynamic environment near the black hole. The observations also captured the base of a jet of matter emerging from the black hole, providing insights into how black holes influence their host galaxies. These findings demonstrate the evolving capabilities of the EHT and its potential to deepen our understanding of black hole physics.