The researchers said that the structure of the magnetic field emanating from the edge of the supermassive black hole called (Sagittarius A) is very similar to that surrounding the only other black hole ever imaged, which is a larger hole located in the center of a nearby galaxy, called (Messier 87). .
The researchers added that these results indicate that strong magnetic fields may be a common feature among black holes.
Sagittarius A has a mass equivalent to 4 million times the mass of the Sun, and is located about 26,000 light-years, or 9.5 trillion kilometers, from Earth.
Black holes are massive, dense, super-gravity objects that can absorb light, making them very difficult to see.
The outer boundary of a black hole is the region where its gravity can pull anything, including stars, planets, gas, dust and all forms of electromagnetic radiation, to the point of no return.
“By imaging polarized light from hot gas glowing near black holes, we directly infer the structure and strength of the magnetic fields that connect the flow of gas and matter that the black hole feeds on and expels,” said Sarah Eason, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and one of the leaders of the research.
“Compared to previous results, polarized light teaches us a lot about astrophysics, the properties of gas, and the mechanisms that occur when a black hole feeds,” Ison added.
The mass of the black hole Messier 87 is equivalent to the mass of the Sun, 6 billion times.
