The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has released a groundbreaking discovery about the supermassive black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy. In April 2018 and 2019, the EHT conducted two multi-wavelength campaigns that observed nearly simultaneous spectra of the galaxy with broad wavelength coverage. The latest results show a spectacular flare emerging from the powerful relativistic jet emanating from the black hole’s center.
The flare released an enormous amount of energy across multiple wavelengths, including high-energy gamma rays, which is rare and unprecedented in over a decade. The observations revealed that the flare lasted approximately three days and occupied a region roughly three light-days in size. This distance is about 170 times the distance between the Sun and Earth (~170 AU).
The EHT multi-wavelength campaign leveraged data from numerous high-profile observatories, including NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope-Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and Chandra X-ray Observatory. The study presented the findings in a recent paper published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Researchers have long been fascinated by the connection between the accretion disk surrounding supermassive black holes and the acceleration of particles in jets. This discovery provides an unprecedented opportunity to test theories about the flare origins and shed light on this long-standing mystery. As Giacomo Principe, the paper coordinator, explained: “This marks the first gamma-ray flaring event observed in M87 in over a decade, allowing us to precisely constrain the size of the region responsible for the observed gamma-ray emission.”
The EHT’s findings are set to revolutionize our understanding of supermassive black holes and their role in shaping the universe.
Source: https://www.universetoday.com/170135/m87-releases-a-rare-and-powerful-outburts-of-gamma-ray-radiation