James Webb Space Telescope captures clearest-ever image of M87’s supermassive black hole jet

Jwst captures clearest-ever image of m87’s supermassive black hole jet. (Image: Jan Röder/Maciek Wielgus)

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has taken the clearest infrared image of the jet from the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87. The image shows a bright pink ribbon of charged particles extending more than thousands of light-years from the centre of the galaxy, offering an unmatched view of this valuable cosmic phenomenon.

Bright Knots and Particle Acceleration

The JWST image consists of bright knots along the jet where particles are accelerated nearly to the speed of light. The bright knots provide clues to the processes that energise matter in extreme gravitational and magnetic conditions around supermassive black holes.

The Faint Counter-jet

The James webb image shows a faint counter-jet, indicating that some particles are streaming in the opposite direction. The astronomers got the opportunity to look at the symmetry and dynamics of the formation of these jets associated with the supermassive black hole and the extraordinarily massive momentum outflows emerged from the accretion disc from the black hole.

A Window into the Extreme Universe

This image allows scientists to study about structures and behaviours in the jet that are invisible in our optical telescopes. Collectively, this new optical view allows to expand our understanding of the jet acceleration behaviour, momentum distribution and energy distribution process in an extreme environment.