New Study Shows The magnetic field of a black hole is exposed by polarized light

Apr, 2021 - By SMI

In 2019, Astronomers released direct photos of a black hole for the first time. The team behind the historic photograph has now unveiled a new module that represents the polarization of light all over the object.

The strong gravitational force of black holes prevents light from escaping, making them incredibly impossible to see. However, black holes suck large quantities of gas and dust, and the material is heated followed by a brilliant glow in an accretion disc, forming a spiral shadow in the middle. That's precisely what the EHT (Event Horizon Telescope) alliance had taken in an April 2019 photo. "Polarization is a critical method for astronomy to probe the physical conditions in one of the universe's most extreme environments," says Colin Lonsdale, chair of the Event Horizon Telescope Team.

The now-iconic photograph portrays the supermassive black hole in the middle of galaxy M87 in the Virgo cluster, which is 55 million light-years distant. Although, to determine the polarization of light around the ring, the partnership has carried-out a follow-up review of the results. Light becomes polarized when it goes from the magnetic fields, such as those seen in a black hole. By calculating the angle of polarized light, astronomers can learn more about what's going on in this strange area. The researchers were especially interested in learning much more about efficient jets that a few of these gigantic black holes generate.

This is unknown why massive quantities of content will be tossed out instead of sucked in with such infamously ravenous artefacts. The team discovered that highly magnetized gas could describe these jets by studying the polarization of light at the event horizon and then running simulations to determine the best match. A member of this research team claimed that jet was formed by plasma movement in the vicinity of the black hole being stopped by aligned magnetic fields.