The European Southern Observatory announced Wednesday that astronomers have discovered a powerful magnetic field swirling around the black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
New images from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) show for the first time the ring of magnetic field surrounding the Sagittarius A* black hole in polarized light.
This magnetic field is similar to that observed around the M87* black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, and ESO says strong magnetic fields may be common to all black holes. is suggested.
“What we are now seeing is a strong, twisted, organized magnetic field near the black hole at the center of the Milky Way,” said Sarah Isaun of Harvard University's Center for Astrophysics. says. .
Polarized images allow astronomers to separate magnetic field lines.
The supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies have masses millions or even billions more than the sun. They are thought to have appeared very early in the universe, but their formation remains a mystery.
Even light cannot escape its gravity, so it is impossible to observe it directly.
But in M87* in 2019 and Sagittarius A* in 2022, EHT captured rings of light produced by streams of matter and gas that black holes suck in and emit.
“By imaging polarized light from glowing gas near a black hole, we are directly inferring the structure and strength of the magnetic field that flows through the flow of gas and matter that the black hole feeds on,” says Harvard Black. said member Angelo Ricarte. Hole Initiative and project co-lead.
Maria Felicia de Laurentiis, deputy scientist at the EHT and professor at Italy's University of Naples Federico II, said: “This is universal, as both (black holes) point us in the direction of strong magnetic fields. “This suggests that this may perhaps be an underlying feature.” of this kind of system. ”
