M87's Central Black Hole in Polarized Light

Explanation: To play on Carl Sagan 's famous words “If you wish to make black hole jets, you must first create magnetic fields.” The featured image represents the detected intrinsic spin direction ( polarization ) of radio waves . The polarizationi is produced by the powerful magnetic field surrounding the supermassive black hole at the center of elliptical galaxy M87 . The radio waves were detected by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which combines data from radio telescopes distributed worldwide . The polarization structure , mapped using computer generated flow lines , is overlaid on EHT's famous black hole image , first published in 2019. The full 3-D magnetic field is complex . Preliminary analyses indicate that parts of the field circle around the black hole along with the accreting matter , as expected. However, another component seemingly veers vertically away from the black hole. This component could explain how matter resists falling in and is instead launched into M87's jet .