State-of-the-art energetic and morphological modelling of the launching site of the M87 jet

The supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87 is surrounded by an accretion disk (red in this computer simulation) and launches jets (blue) circled by magnetic field lines (green).

ALEJANDRO CRUZ-OSORIO, LUCIANO REZZOLLA

M87 has been the target of numerous astronomical observations across the electromagnetic spectrum, and very long baseline interferometry has resolved an edge-brightened jet1–4. However, the origin and formation of its jets remain unclear. In our current understanding, black holes (BH) are the driving engine of jet formation5, and indeed the recent Event Horizon Telescope observations revealed a ring-like structure in agreement with theoretical models of accretion onto a rotating Kerr BH6. In addition to the spin of the BH being a potential source…

more:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01506-w.epdf?