Something extremely strange is happening on the horizon of the event of this supermassive black hole

In 2019, scientists unveiled the very first images of a black hole, M87 *. These observations have launched a wave of new surveys on the functioning of black holes, how they grow up and how they change. And now, after a few upgrades, the Horizon Event telescope network is back with another bomb centered on M87 * – The attractive proof of physics previously unknown on the horizon of the black hole event itself.

In a series of images taken by the EHT between 2017 and 2021, scientists observed a completely unexpected reversal in the magnetic fields of the black hole – in other words, its polarization has turned. They also detected strange jets that exploded from M87 *. Observations provide researchers with their most detailed vision on the black hole and, perhaps accordingly, the extreme conditions that surround it. The results should be detailed in a next astronomy and astrophysics document.

“These results show how the EHT evolves towards a full-fledged scientific observatory, capable not only to provide unprecedented images, but also to build a progressive and coherent understanding of black holes physics,” said Mariafelicia de Laurentis, co-author of the study and astronomer at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, in a version.

Unexpected changes in a supermassive black hole

M87 * is a supermassive black hole in the center of the Galaxy M87, which is located about 55 million light years from the earth. This giant is estimated at more than six billion times the mass of our sun. Such a gigantic black hole should exert a huge gravitational influence on any nearby question, as seen in the shiny and orange plasma ring in the image.

This attracted astronomers by surprise, however, were sudden changes towards the plasma spiral around M87 *, technically known as its polarization model. He suggests that the area around M87 * is an “evolving and turbulent environment where magnetic fields play a vital role in governance of the way in the matter falls into the black hole and how energy is launched outwards,” explained the researchers.

“What is remarkable is that if the size of the ring has remained consistent during the years-confirming the shadow of the black hole predicted by Einstein theory-the polarization model changes considerably,” said Paul Tiede, co-directed author of the study and astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics of Harvard & Smithsonian.

“This tells us that the magnetized plasma swirling near the horizon of the event is far from static; it is dynamic and complex, pushing our theoretical models at the limit,” he added.

A coin from the cosmic puzzle

The observations suggest that the polarization model at M87 * returned management in 2017, before spiral in the other direction in 2021.

“This defies our models and shows that there are a lot of things that we still do not understand near the event of the event,” said Jongho Park, another co-author of the newspaper and astronomer at Kyunghee University in South Korea.

The physics of the black hole is, well, a little a black hole, with a myriad of questions and mysteries without response to solve. Any clue that we can get helps to advance our science: supermassive black holes like M87 * are essential to the way galaxies form stars, and they help distribute energy seeds throughout the universe.

In particular, the powerful jets emitted by such large black holes are a “unique laboratory” for astrophysicists studying gamma rays or high energy neutrinos, declared the researchers, offering a rich range of information on the role of black holes in cosmic evolution.