Chandra Captures M87 Black Hole Jet in Record Detail 55 Million Light-Years Away
Updated
Updated · Space.com · Jun 16
Chandra Captures M87 Black Hole Jet in Record Detail 55 Million Light-Years Away
3 articles · Updated · Space.com · Jun 16
Summary
Astronomers using Chandra produced the sharpest X-ray view yet of the jet from M87’s central black hole, resolving structures across more than a decade of observations.
The new image shows a more complex, dynamic flow than earlier X-ray data, with some features appearing to move 5 times faster than light—an optical illusion caused by near-light-speed motion toward Earth.
M87* sits about 55 million light-years away and has a mass 6.5 billion times the sun’s, blasting matter from its poles into jets that extend for thousands of light-years.
Researchers said the observations should sharpen models of how black hole jets accelerate particles and how supermassive black holes feed energy back into their host galaxies.
The results were presented at the 248th meeting of the American Astronomical Society and posted as a preprint on arXiv.
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A Decade of Chandra X-ray Observations Reveals Unprecedented Detail in M87’s Supermassive Black Hole Jet
Overview
On June 16, 2026, astronomers released the most detailed X-ray images ever of the powerful jet from M87’s supermassive black hole, thanks to a decade of Chandra Observatory data and advanced processing. M87, famous for its black hole’s first image in 2019, shows matter spiraling inward, with some energy expelled as enormous jets. These new images offer fresh perspectives on the jet’s structure and reveal how particles are accelerated to extreme energies. This breakthrough deepens our understanding of the fundamental physics behind such outflows and how supermassive black holes influence their galaxies.