Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) instruments are unveiling new scientific research that probes some of the most extreme environments in the universe. This news will be shared in press conferences at the 248th American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in Pasadena, June 14th-18th.
ALMA and the Event Horizon Telescope: Moving Towards a Close-Up of a Black Hole and its Jets
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Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have finally found clear evidence that the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*(Sgr A*), is blowing a hot cosmic wind – something scientists have been hunting for over 50 years.
ALMA and the Event Horizon Telescope: Moving Towards a Close-Up of a Black Hole and its Jets
Credit: Chalmers/J. Bournonville/Anne-Kathrin Baczko
After taking the first images of black holes, the ground-breaking Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is poised to reveal how black holes launch powerful jets into space. An international research team has shown that the EHT will be able to make exciting images of a supermassive black hole and its jets in the galaxy NGC 1052. The measurements, made with interconnected radio telescopes, also confirm strong magnetic fields close to the black hole’s edge.
“The centre of this galaxy, NGC 1052, is a promising target for imaging with the Event Horizon Telescope, but it’s faint, complex and more challenging than all other sources we’ve attempted so far”, says Anne-Kathrin Baczko, an astronomer at Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers and the lead of this research.
The team made measurements using just five of the telescopes in the EHT’s global network – including ALMA, including ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array), of which the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a partner, in a configuration that would allow the best possible estimate of its potential for future observations, and supplemented with measurements from other telescopes.
“For such a faint and unknown target, we were not sure if we would get any data at all. But the strategy worked, thanks in particular to the sensitivity of ALMA and complementary data from many other telescopes”, says Anne-Kathrin Baczko.
This text was adapted from a press release shared by Chalmers University. View the full release.
This news article was originally published on the NRAO website on December 17, 2024.
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Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) instruments are unveiling new scientific research that probes some of the most extreme environments in the universe. This news will be shared in press conferences at the 248th American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in Pasadena, June 14th-18th.
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Astronomers have discovered a huge reservoir of cold molecular gas, the direct fuel for star formation, in REBELS-25, a massive, star-forming galaxy.
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Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have finally found clear evidence that the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*(Sgr A*), is blowing a hot cosmic wind – something scientists have been hunting for over 50 years.