Although many people believe that black holes are giant vacuums that suck in anything that gets into their proximity, a recent study conducted by scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics sheds light on the magnetic fields that exist in the Milky Way's central black hole for the first time.
"Understanding these magnetic fields is critical. Nobody has been able to resolve magnetic fields near the event horizon until now," Michael Johnson, lead author of the study, said in a press release.
Black holes can be thought of as engines that convert the energy of infalling matter into radiation, which in turn can generate strong jet blasts that can travel thousands of light-years and have the ability to form galaxies. The current study allows us to further study the magnetic fields that power the processes that occur within black holes.
"These magnetic fields have been predicted to exist, but no one has seen them before. Our data puts decades of theoretical work on solid observational ground," added Shep Doeleman, the study's principal investigator.
The study took advantage of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which is a global network of radio telescopes that work together as one giant telescope as massive as Earth. Its immense size gives it a great level of detail - it has the ability to catch features as small as 15 micro-arcseconds, which is the equivalent of being able to spot a golf ball on the moon.
The results showed that Milky Way's Srg A* black hole possesses magnetic fields that are jumbled and disorderly in some areas, whereas other regions are much more organized. The results will potentially help scientists further understand the mysteries of the universe.
"With this result, the EHT team is one step closer to solving a central paradox in astronomy: why are black holes so bright?" said Doeleman.
