事件视界望远镜解析半人马座A黑洞的中心喷流

2021年8月4日

EHT Resolves Central Jet from Black Hole in Cen A
Image Credit: Radboud University; CSIRO/ATNF/I.Feain et al., R.Morganti et al., N.Junkes et al.; ESO/WFI; MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A. Weiss et al.; NASA/CXC/CfA/R. Kraft et al.; TANAMI/C. Mueller et al.; EHT/M. Janssen et al.

Explanation: How do supermassive black holes create powerful jets? To help find out, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) imaged the center of the nearby active galaxy Centaurus A. The cascade of featured inset images shows Cen A from it largest, taking up more sky than many moons, to its now finest, taking up only as much sky as an golf ball on the moon. The new image shows what may look like two jets — but is actually two sides of a single jet. This newly discovered jet-edge brightening does not solve the jet-creation mystery, but does imply that the particle outflow is confined by a strong pressure — possibly involving a magnetic field. The EHT is a coordination of radio telescopes from around the Earth — from the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory in Hawaii USA, to ALMA in Chile, to NOEMA in France, and more. The EHT will continue to observe massive, nearby black holes and their energetic surroundings.

Tomorrow’s picture: Space Odyssey craters

事件视界望远镜解析半人马A黑洞的中心喷流
影像提供: Radboud University; CSIRO/ATNF/I.Feain et al., R.Morganti et al., N.Junkes et al.; ESO/WFI; MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A. Weiss et al.; NASA/CXC/CfA/R. Kraft et al.; TANAMI/C. Mueller et al.; EHT/M. Janssen et al.

说明: 超大质量黑洞如何发出强大的喷流？为找出答案提供助力，事件视界望远镜（EHT）为邻近活跃星系半人马座A的中心造影。这幅由串接嵌图组合成的主题影像，呈现半人马座A之内，从最大涵盖数个满月张角，到最小涵盖月面高尔夫球区域的特征结构。乍看之下，这幅影像看似呈现了二道喷流，但其实它是同一道喷流的二面。这道镶着亮缘的新发现喷流，并未解开喷流如何产生的谜团，但却隐指外泛的粒子流是受到庞大压力的局束，而磁场可能也扮演某种角色。用来进行这项工作的事件视界望远镜，是美国夏威夷的加州理工次毫米波天文台、智利的阿玛阵列、法国的NOEMA、及地球其他处的电波望远镜协调聚合成的观测设施。事件视界望远镜将持续观测邻近的大质量黑洞，以及它们高能现象频频出现的周围空间。

明日的图片: Space Odyssey craters