A Black Hole in M87?
Explanation:
The center of nearby giant galaxy
M87 is a dense and violent place. In
this
1994 photograph by the
Hubble Space Telescope, a disk of hot
gas was found to be orbiting at the center of this massive
elliptical galaxy. The
disk is evident at the lower left of the picture. The rotation
speed of gas in this disk indicates the mass of the object the gas is
orbiting, while the size of the disk indicates an approximate volume of the
central object.
These observations
yield a central density so high that the
only hypothesized object that could live there is a
black hole. The
picture also shows a highly
energetic jet emanating from the central
object like a cosmic blowtorch.
The jet is composed of fast moving charged particles and has
broken into knots as small as 10 light years across.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
