The Galaxy, the Jet, and a Famous Black Hole
Explanation:
Bright elliptical galaxy Messier 87 (M87)
is home to the
supermassive black hole captured in 2017 by planet Earth's
Event Horizon Telescope
in the first ever image of a black hole.
Giant of the Virgo galaxy cluster about 55 million light-years away,
M87 is rendered in blue hues in this infrared
image from
the Spitzer Space telescope.
Though M87 appears mostly featureless and cloud-like,
the Spitzer image does record details of relativistic
jets blasting from the galaxy's central region.
Shown in the inset at top right, the jets themselves
span thousands of light-years.
The brighter jet seen on the
right is approaching and close to our line of sight.
Opposite, the shock created by the otherwise unseen receding jet
lights up a fainter arc of material.
Inset at bottom right, the
historic black hole image is shown
in context at the center of giant galaxy, between the relativistic jets.
Completely unresolved in the Spitzer image, the
supermassive
black hole surrounded by infalling material is the source of enormous
energy driving
the
relativistic jets from the center of active galaxy M87.
The Event Horizon Telescope image of M87
has been enhanced to reveal a
sharper view of
the famous supermassive black hole.
It's inescapable:
Black Hole Week at NASA!
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.
