Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery, capturing a rare gamma-ray flare from the supermassive black hole M87* at a distance of 55 million light-years. The Event Horizon Telescope team, an international collaboration, gathered data from sensors around the globe in April 2018 and detected the massive emission.
The flare, which lasted for three Earth days, released copious amounts of high-energy radiation and extended beyond the event horizon by tens of millions of times. Scientists believe it resulted from material consumed by the black hole interacting with its external magnetic field.
This rare event provides valuable insights into the physics surrounding M87’s supermassive black hole, including the acceleration of particles in the jet and the origin of the flare. The discovery marks a significant step forward in understanding these mysterious objects.
The team is still poring over the results, but initial findings suggest that the “flare region has a complex structure and exhibits different characteristics depending on the wavelength.” This research holds great potential for advancing our knowledge of supermassive black holes and their behavior.
Source: https://futurism.com/the-byte/black-hole-exploded-gamma-ray-burst