                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2023 May 4

                The Galaxy, the Jet, and a Famous Black Hole
   Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

   Explanation: Bright elliptical galaxy Messier 87 (M87) is home to the
   supermassive black hole captured in 2017 by planet Earth's Event
   Horizon Telescope in the first ever image of a black hole. Giant of the
   Virgo galaxy cluster about 55 million light-years away, M87 is the
   large galaxy rendered in blue hues in this infrared image from the
   Spitzer Space telescope. Though M87 appears mostly featureless and
   cloud-like, the Spitzer image does record details of relativistic jets
   blasting from the galaxy's central region. Shown in the inset at top
   right, the jets themselves span thousands of light-years. The brighter
   jet seen on the right is approaching and close to our line of sight.
   Opposite, the shock created by the otherwise unseen receding jet lights
   up a fainter arc of material. Inset at bottom right, the historic black
   hole image is shown in context, at the center of giant galaxy and
   relativistic jets. Completely unresolved in the Spitzer image, the
   supermassive black hole surrounded by infalling material is the source
   of enormous energy driving the relativistic jets from the center of
   active galaxy M87. The Event Horizon Telescope image of M87 has now
   been enhanced to reveal a sharper view of the famous supermassive black
   hole.

                          At NASA: Black Hole Week
                        Tomorrow's picture: ShadowCam
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

