Unprecedented view of black hole located at the center of the Milky Way is revealed

A new image of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), located in the center of the Milky Way, 27 thousand light years from Earth, was captured by scientists. For the first time, this image was recorded in polarized lightrevealing the presence of strong and well-organized magnetic fields that extend in a spiral from the edge of Sgr A*.

The discoveries, resulting from work carried out by astronomers at the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a virtual telescope that connects the antennas of several radio telescopes — were published this Wednesday, 27, in the magazine The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

According to Galileo magazine, the use of polarized light allowed a more detailed investigation of black holesrevealing valuable information about its astrophysics, the properties of the gas around it and the processes that occur when a black hole attracts matter towards itself.

Comparisons

The structure of Sgr A*’s magnetic field resembles that observed in the M87* black hole, located at the center of the M87 galaxy. Previous studies have indicated that M87*’s magnetic fields enable the black hole to emit jets of material into the surrounding space. The new images suggest that something similar could happen with Sgr A*, although it is at least a thousand times smaller and less massive than M87*.

The researcher Sara Issaoun highlights the importance of strong and organized magnetic fields near the black hole, stating that they play a fundamental role in the interaction of black holes with the gas and matter around them. Astronomers now plan to investigate the similarities and differences between black holes.

One of the similarities between these two black holes could be a jet, but although we have captured a very obvious one in M87*, we have not yet found one in Sgr A*”, commented the researcher Mariafelicia De Laurentis.

New observations of Sgr A*, using the EHT, are scheduled for April this year, and scientists hope to obtain even clearer images.

+Check out the statement released by the scientists here.