NASA Chandra reveals most detailed M87 black hole jet
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has captured the most detailed look yet at the jet shooting out from M87's supermassive black hole, about 55 million light-years away.
Led by Camille Poitras, a Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Laval University and lead of the study, this discovery gives scientists fresh insights into how black holes launch particles and shape their galaxies.
Researchers distinguish previously blended jet structures
The M87 jet is massive; it stretches thousands of light-years and blasts out material at nearly the speed of light.
Thanks to these new images, researchers can now spot details in the jet that used to be a blur.
Some parts even look like they're moving faster than light (don't worry, it's just an optical illusion).
As Poitras puts it, Structures that previously appeared blended together can now be distinguished, allowing us to better follow the jet's evolution over more than a decade of observations, which helps us understand how these cosmic monsters really work.