Using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), astronomers have tracked a 3,000 light-years-long cosmic blowtorch back to its source, the supermassive black hole M87*, which bears the distinction of being the first black hole imaged by humanity. The breakthrough could help scientists better understand what creates these powerful jets of charged particles that travel at speeds approaching the speed of light.
M87* sits at the heart of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87), located around 55 million light-years from Earth. The historic image of this supermassive black hole, which has a mass equivalent to that of 6.5 billion suns, was captured by the EHT in 2017 and was released to the public in April 2019.
