A Quick Look at the Black Hole Jet in M87

Astronomers have shown that the black hole in Messier 87 is propelling particles faster than 99% of the speed of light using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The black hole in Messier 87, or M87, became famous in April 2019 when the Event Horizon Telescope released the first direct image of a black hole in this galaxy Chandra has observed M87 for many years and can see the effects from its black hole on much bigger scales — both across space and over time — than the EHT. When material swirling around it falls towards the black hole in M87, some of it is redirected outward into powerful narrow beams, or jets. Using Chandra data, astronomers zoomed into small regions of the jet and compared the changes in X-ray light over five years. This evidence showed that particles in the jet are being propelled by the black hole right up to the ultimate cosmic speed limit.