Astronomers see for the first time how a cosmic jet escapes from a black hole | Technology and science

Astronomers have observed a startling phenomenon in a giant galaxy far from Earth. For the first time, a so-called cosmic jet near a black hole has been captured on image, reports The Guardian.

Cosmic jets are clustered jets of matter into space, such as hot gas and plasma. Scientists cannot yet explain their origin. Experts only know that they travel through space at about the speed of light. A lot of energy is released.

The photo was taken near the black hole in the galaxy Messier 87, located about 55 million light-years from Earth. This supermassive black hole is 6.5 billion times more massive than our sun. Its diameter is at least 100 billion kilometers.

The gravity around a black hole is so strong that nothing can escape. Not even a light. However, astronomers sometimes see cosmic jets shooting out from the vicinity of black holes. They can appear around what is called the event horizon: the limit above which some light can still escape.

With the photo, astronomers hope to be able to deepen their research on the formation of cosmic jets. It is simply impossible to see where the jet is coming from. “But we can investigate how parts of the jet were accelerated and heated,” one of the researchers told the British newspaper.