This sequence of images, taken over a 13-year span by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, reveals changes in a black-hole-powered jet of hot gas in the giant elliptical galaxy M87.
The observations show that the river of plasma, traveling at nearly the speed of light, may follow the spiral structure of the black hole's magnetic field, which astronomers think is coiled like a helix. The magnetic field is believed to arise from a spinning accretion disk of material around a black hole. Although the magnetic field cannot be seen, its presence is inferred by the confinement of the jet along a narrow cone emanating from the black hole. The visible portion of the jet extends 5,000 light-years.
M87 resides at the center of the neighboring Virgo cluster of roughly 2,000 galaxies, located 50 million light-years away.
The images are part of a time-lapse movie that reveals changes in the jet over more than a 13-year period. They were taken by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in 2006 and Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 in 1995, 1998, 2001, and 2007.
Credits
NASA, ESA, E. Meyer, W. Sparks, J. Biretta, J. Anderson, S.T. Sohn, and R. van der Marel (STScI), C. Norman (Johns Hopkins University), and M. Nakamura (Academia Sinica)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | M87 Jet |
| Object Description | Giant Elliptical Galaxy with Jet |
| R.A. Position | 12h 30m 49s.42 |
| Dec. Position | +12° 23' 28".03 |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Distance | 54 million light-years (17 megaparsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Note: Data used in the analysis of the M87 jet are from several different instruments and numerous Hubble proposals. The science team includes: E. Meyer, W. Sparks, J. Biretta, J. Anderson, S.T. Sohn, and R. van der Marel (STScI), C. Norman (Johns Hopkins University), and M. Nakamura (Academia Sinica) |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC, HST>ACS/HRC, and HST>WFPC2 |
| Exposure Dates | 2002 - 2006 (ACS/WFC), 2006 (ACS/HRC), and 1995 - 2008 (HST>WFPC2) |
| Filters | F814W (I) |
| About The Image | |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
