M87* is the supermassive black hole at the center of the Messier 87 galaxy, located approximately 55 million light-years from Earth. It is one of the most massive and well-studied black holes in the universe, and has become a key object for understanding the properties and behavior of black holes in the context of 24.5 Black Holes.
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M87* is one of the most massive known black holes in the universe, with a mass estimated to be about 6.5 billion times the mass of the Sun.
The black hole is located at the center of the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 (M87), which is a prominent member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.
M87* is the first black hole to have its image directly captured by the Event Horizon Telescope, a global network of radio telescopes, in 2019.
The black hole's event horizon has a diameter of about 40 billion kilometers, which is about 3 times the size of our entire solar system.
M87* is thought to power the large-scale jet of high-energy particles that extends outward from the galaxy's center for over 5,000 light-years.
Review Questions
Describe the significance of M87* in the context of black hole research and our understanding of these extreme celestial objects.
M87* is a critically important object for the study of black holes because it is one of the most massive and well-studied supermassive black holes in the universe. The direct imaging of M87*'s event horizon by the Event Horizon Telescope in 2019 was a groundbreaking achievement that provided unprecedented insights into the properties and behavior of black holes. M87* serves as a benchmark for understanding the role of supermassive black holes in the evolution and dynamics of galaxies, as well as the physical processes that occur in the immediate vicinity of these extreme gravitational objects.
Explain the relationship between M87* and the large-scale jet of high-energy particles extending from the galaxy's center.
M87* is thought to be the driving force behind the massive jet of high-energy particles that extends outward from the center of the Messier 87 galaxy for over 5,000 light-years. The intense gravitational and electromagnetic fields surrounding the supermassive black hole are believed to accelerate charged particles to tremendous speeds, launching them outward in the form of a collimated jet. This jet is a prime example of the powerful influence that black holes can have on the larger-scale structure and evolution of their host galaxies, as the energy and momentum from the jet can shape the distribution of gas and dust in the galaxy's environment.
Analyze the significance of the direct imaging of M87*'s event horizon by the Event Horizon Telescope and how it has advanced our understanding of black hole physics.
The direct imaging of M87*'s event horizon by the Event Horizon Telescope in 2019 was a landmark achievement in the study of black holes. By resolving the immediate surroundings of this supermassive black hole, the observations provided the first direct visual evidence of the existence of event horizons, a key prediction of Einstein's theory of general relativity. The detailed images of M87* have allowed astronomers to study the dynamics of the material swirling around the black hole, test models of black hole accretion and jet formation, and probe the fundamental properties of gravity in the extreme environment near the event horizon. This breakthrough has significantly advanced our understanding of the physics of black holes and their role in the evolution of galaxies, opening new avenues of research in the field of 24.5 Black Holes.
A supermassive black hole is an extremely dense object with a mass millions to billions of times greater than the Sun, typically found at the center of most galaxies.
An accretion disk is a rotating disk of dense gas and dust that surrounds and feeds material into a central object, such as a black hole or a young star.