Astronomers discover magnetic field in Milky Way black hole – News

A new image taken by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration project has revealed strong, spirally organized magnetic fields at the edge of the black hole Sagittarius A (Sgr A), located at the center of the Milky Way.

The image has similarities to the magnetic field of another black hole much larger than Sgr A, called M87, which is in the galaxy Messier 87. This suggests that strong magnetic fields are common to all black holes.

“With a sample of two black holes – with very different galaxies and masses – it is important to determine what they agree and disagree on. As they are both pointing towards a strong magnetic field, this suggests that perhaps this is a universal characteristic or even fundamental aspect of this type of system”, explains EHT Project scientist, Mariafelicia De Laurentis.

Located 27 thousand light years from planet Earth, Sgr A had its first image revealed in 2022, at press conferences around the world. From this, scientists noticed that Sgr A closely resembled M87, which was the first black hole to be recorded and is ten times larger than the other.

Research into M87 indicated that the region’s magnetic fields allowed the black hole to expel powerful jets of material into the surrounding environment. Images released in The Astrophysical Journal Letters show that the same could also be true for Sgr A.

Mariafelicia De Laurentis highlights that, while in M87 the release of materials was easy to capture, in the case of Sgr A, researchers have not yet been able to record this activity.

polarized light

To see the magnetic field, the researchers used polarized light. Light is an electromagnetic wave that oscillates and moves. When it is oriented towards a certain side, it is polarized. But humans cannot distinguish this effect from normal light with the naked eye. In the case of a black hole, particles along the magnetic field lines have a polarization pattern perpendicular to that of the field.

Using equipment that captures polarized light, researchers are able to obtain more details about the properties of the gas and the mechanisms that occur in black holes.

However, observing these systems through these waves is not easy even with equipment. In the case of Sgr A, there was an additional challenge due to the speed at which it moves, so that even recording from polarized light became difficult.

The EHT will observe Sgr A again in April this year. The expectation is that expansion plans for the next decade will make it possible to view the system’s hidden jet. The international collaboration project involves the participation of 300 researchers from Africa, Asia, Europe, South and North America.

The results were published in two articles in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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