Astronomers Discover Strong Magnetic Fields Around Supermassive Black Hole Sgr A*
Astronomers from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration have made a groundbreaking discovery regarding the supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), located at the center of our galaxy. The EHT team recently released the first image of Sgr A*, unveiling striking similarities to the black hole at the core of the Messier 87 galaxy.
The researchers studied Sgr A* in polarized light, which allowed them to investigate the magnetic fields encircling the black hole situated 27,000 light-years away from Earth. What they found was surprising—strong, twisted, and well-organized magnetic fields near Sgr A*, reminiscent of those observed in the significantly larger black hole, M87*.
The EHT collaboration has established an Earth-sized virtual telescope by connecting radio telescopes worldwide to explore black holes such as Sgr A*. Polarized light has proven to be instrumental in enabling astronomers to analyze the structure and intensity of magnetic fields encasing black holes.
The fresh images of Sgr A* indicate that phenomena like launching jets of material into space may be universal among supermassive black holes. The EHT collaboration is gearing up to scrutinize Sgr A* once more in April, with more telescopes joining the effort to investigate the black hole across multiple frequencies.
The team’s findings were detailed in two papers published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on March 27, shedding light on the enigmatic properties of Sgr A* and paving the way for further exploration of black holes and their magnetic fields.
