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- New Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations traced the origin of the powerful jet back to the M87 galaxy to the vicinity of the central supermassive black hole in the galaxy.
- Including multiple telescopes at great distances apart – especially the ALMA telescope in Chile – provided crucial details.
- These results bring scientists closer to understanding how black holes get started relativistic jetspowerful jets of radiation thousands of light-years long and moving close to the speed of light.
NRAO originally published this article on January 28, 2026. Edited by EarthSky.
The Event Horizon Telescope probes the jet black hole M87
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and other radio telescopes in the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) have taken a significant step towards determining where the powerful jet from the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87 is coming from. Their study links the black hole’s famous luminous ring to a compact region that marks the probable base of the jet. And the finding brings scientists closer to understanding how black holes power some of the brightest beacons in the universe.
Giant elliptical galaxy M87is located about 55 million light years from Earth. In addition, it hosts a supermassive black hole with a mass roughly six billion times that of our Sun. This black hole creates a bright, narrow beam of particles that shoot out from the galaxy’s core. And this jet stretches about 3,000 light-years into space.
The Event Horizon Telescope is global
To study small areas this small, astronomers have linked radio telescopes around the globe into a virtual telescope the size of Earth. It is known as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). One of them, ALMA, is a partner of the American National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO). Alma is one of the most sensitive and critical stations in this network. It gave EHT the ability to detect fine details in the gas and jet near a black hole.
Using EHT observations of M87 from 2021, the team was able to compare how bright the radio emission is at different spatial scales. As a result, they found that the glowing ring around the black hole could not explain all of its radio light. However, they found another compact source, about 0.09 light years from the black hole. A corresponds to the assumed position of the base of the jet.
So by using ALMA as a baseline and linking it to other observatories, additional structures were revealed that connect the immediate vicinity of the black hole to the jet on a larger scale. So the astronomers bridged the gap between the ring and the jet and used computer models to test how the jets start.
Future studies are necessary
Naturally, future EHT observations involving ALMA and other telescopes. For example, Large millimeter telescope in Mexico, he will sharpen his view even more. they hope that the researchers will determine the basis of the jet based on their studies. Additionally, they aim to directly image the region where matter near the black hole flows into the jet. This would increase our knowledge and understanding of black hole physics.
Bottom Line: New observations using the Event Horizon Telescope trace the M87 black hole jet back to its likely source, which is associated with the famous ring of light at the base of the jet.
Via: New Telescope Results Event Horizon Track M87’s Jet Back to Its Black Hole
Read more: The M87 nozzle has a double helix structure
Read more: New image of supermassive black hole M87
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