Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy | 2017 Apr 20
The origin of the jet from the close vicinity of the central black hole of an active galaxy
[img3="Schematic illustration of the turbulent mass injection process from the accretion disk of a supermassive black hole into a global helical magnetic field.The nearby, giant radio galaxy M87 hosts a supermassive black hole (BH) and is well-known for its bright jet dominating the spectrum over ten orders of magnitude in frequency. Due to its proximity, jet prominence, and the large black hole mass, M87 is the best laboratory for investigating the formation, acceleration, and collimation of relativistic jets. A research team led by Silke Britzen from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, has found strong indication for turbulent processes connecting the accretion disk and the jet of that galaxy providing insights into the longstanding problem of the origin of astrophysical jets.
Credit: Axel. M. Quetz/MPIA Heidelberg"]http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/3707628/st ... 594600.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]
Supermassive black holes form some of the most enigmatic phenomena in astrophysics. Their enormous energy output is supposed to be generated by the transformation of gravity into radiation.
Active black holes produce radiation via accretion of matter forming an accretion disk surrounding the central machine. A clear signpost of actively accreting massive black holes in the central cores of galaxies are enormous jets reaching out from the galaxies centers to scales of megaparsec and thus far beyond the optically visible galaxy. ...
A New View on the M87 Jet Origin: Turbulent Loading Leading to Large-Scale Episodic Wiggling - S. Britzen et al
- Astronomy & Astrophysics (online 1 Mar 2017) DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201629469