A new discovery in astronomy...magnetic fields surround the supermassive black hole in the Milky Way Galaxy
Image of the black hole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
ESO / EHTAstronomers have discovered strong, organized magnetic fields that surround the supermassive black hole, “Sagittarius A Star,” located at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, which includes planet Earth, according to the European Southern Observatory on Wednesday. Supermassive black holes are located in the middle of galaxies, and their mass ranges between one million and billion times the mass of the Sun, and their formation is still a mystery.
The European Southern Observatory announced on Wednesday that astronomers have discovered strong magnetic fields circularly surrounding the massive black hole, "Sagittarius A Star," located at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy , to which planet Earth belongs .
The polarized light image showed an orange light ring interspersed with regular lines that line the Sagittarius A Star. The image, produced in collaboration with the Event Horizon Telescope, in which the European Southern Observatory is a participant, revealed that the structure of Sagittarius A* is very similar to that of M87*, the first black hole imaged, located in the center of the galaxy M87.
The European Observatory's statement quoted the co-director of the project, Sarah Ison from the American Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University, as saying that "strong, twisted, and organized magnetic fields were observed near the black hole in the center of the Milky Way."
Polarized light plays the role of a filter of sorts, as observation using it allows us to isolate part of the light radiation of an object and thus know some of its characteristics.
Supermassive black holes are located in the middle of galaxies, and their mass ranges between one million and billion times the mass of the Sun. Although it is believed that it appeared in the universe at a very early time, mystery still surrounds its formation. Its strong gravity prevents anything from escaping, whether matter or light, and therefore it cannot be observed directly.
However, in 2019 for M87* and 2022 for Sagittarius A*, the Event Horizon Telescope was able to image the halo of light resulting from the flows of matter and gas that the black hole feeds on and expels.
“Polarized light provides a lot of data about astrophysics, the properties of gas, and the mechanisms that occur when a black hole feeds,” said Angelo Ricarte, co-director of the project and a member of the Black Hole Initiative at Harvard University.
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