The supermassive black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy is spinning: Its jet poses a danger to everything in its path

After 22 years of observations, scientists have concluded that the supermassive black hole located at the center of the M87 galaxy is indeed rotating.

The black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy is orders of magnitude larger than the mass of our Sun. Its important feature is the presence of a jet - a jet of matter ejected from the center of the hole. This jet performs impressive maneuvers, describing a circle in space with an angular span of up to 10 degrees. This powerful jet stream can pose a danger to anything in its path.

Interestingly, a jet of material from a black hole was first noticed by astronomer Heber Curtis back in 1918. However, the image of this jet was obtained only using the Hubble orbital telescope. This supermassive black hole was also the first object to be imaged in observations, providing scientists with valuable data to study.

To determine whether the black hole in M87 is rotating, scientists analyzed 170 observations made from 2000 to 2022 at more than 200 telescopes. Their attention was drawn to the change in the position of the jet, which indicates the rotation of the black hole. The black hole's rotation distorts the spacetime around it, causing the jet to change direction and the orientation of the accretion disk to change.

Observations made it possible to determine the angle of deflection of the jet, which was approximately 10 degrees. The jet completes its motion in 11 years, after which the cycle begins all over again.

Many questions remain, such as the rotation speed of this black hole, which has a mass 6 billion times the mass of the Sun. However, this find will help scientists better understand the evolution of such massive cosmic objects and their role in the formation and development of galaxies.