by Demand:
A photograph shared online in March 2024 shows the first image in polarized light of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.
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The photograph revealed the first image in polarized light of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. However, it was not the first ever image of the astronomical object. That was published in May 2022.
On March 27, 2024, accounts of X (formerly Twitter) post an image showing bright magnetic fields orbiting a dark center and claimed to have shown the first image in polarized light of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
One account wrote: “The Event Horizon Telescope has captured the first image of our supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A, in polarized light.”
NEWS 🚨: The Event Horizon Telescope captured the first image of our supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A, in polarized light pic.twitter.com/6KdrtMG4x1
— Latest in space (@latestinspace) March 27, 2024
Together, the X posts have garnered more than 3.7 million views at the time of this writing. Examples of the demand were also seen on Facebook and Instagram.
The image is real, though some were social media users not sureand some of them questioned whether it was true.
The image shows the first polarized light image of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, according to the official website of the Event Horizon Telescope – an international collaboration of a global network of radio telescopes.
An EHT news release said the image revealed spiral magnetic fields from the edge of the galactic beast, which could be uniform for supermassive black holes due to findings from other supermassive black holes in the telescope network previously observed.
The newsletter read:
A new image from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has revealed strong, organized magnetic fields from the edge of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). Seen in polarized light for the first time, this new view of the monster at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy has revealed a magnetic field structure remarkably similar to that of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, suggesting a strong magnetic . all black holes may have common fields. This similarity is also suggestive of a latent jet in Sgr A*. The results were published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The news release explained normal light as “an oscillating or moving electromagnetic wave that allows us to see things.” Light sometimes also oscillates in a preferred orientation, called “polarized.” Polarized light is everywhere but is indistinguishable from “normal” light to the human eye.
Normal light waves vibrate up and down in an S shape along their path of travel. However, up and down are not fixed directions, as explained in a 2021 BBC Science Focus article. The vibrations could be horizontal, vertical, diagonal — or any angle in between. For example, sunlight waves are distributed even at all those angles. On the other hand, polarized light vibrates at one angle.
EHT publication continued:
In the plasma surrounding these black holes, particles swirling around magnetic field lines produce a polarization pattern perpendicular to the field. This allows astronomers to see in more vivid detail what is happening in black hole regions and map their magnetic field lines.
The image was posted on Facebook, Instagram and X accounts.
The Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics also published a news release, which contributed to the project.
The results of the study were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on 27 March 2024.
Although the photo showed the first image in polarized light of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, it was not the first time an image of Sagittarius A* had been captured. The first picture of the celestial object was published in the EHT news release on 12 May 2022.
Snopes previously reported on the first computer visualization of a black hole.
Sources:
About. https://eventhorizontelescope.org/about. Accessed 29 March 2024.
Astronomers have revealed the First Image of the Black Hole at the Heart of our Galaxy. 12 May 2022, https://eventhorizontelescope.org/blog/astronomers-reveal-first-image-black-hole-heart-our-galaxy.
Astronomers Reveal Strong Magnetic Fields Spiraling Around the Edge of the Milky Way’s Central Black Hole. 27 March 2024, https://eventhorizontelescope.org/blog/astronomers-unveil-strong-magnetic-fields-spiraling-edge-milky-way%E2%80%99s-central-black-hole.
Astronomers Reveal Strong Magnetic Fields Spiraling at the Edge of the Milky Way’s Central Black Hole. 27 Mar. 2024, https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/astronomers-unveil-strong-magnetic-fields-spiraling-edge-milky-ways-central-black-hole.
authors.), The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration (See end content for full list of, et al. ‘First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. VII. Polarization of the Ring’. The Astrophysical Journal letters, vol. 964, no. 2, March 2024, p. L25. Institute of Physicshttps://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad2df0.
‘Https://Twitter.Com/Ehtelescope/Status/1772971844271812874′. X (formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/ehtelescope/status/1772971844271812874 . Accessed 29 March 2024.
Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/C5BMJ7SO4J4/ . Accessed 29 March 2024.
Press Release (April 10, 2019): Astronomers Capture First Image of Black Hole. https://eventhorizontelescope.org/press-release-april-10-2019-astronomers-capture-first-image-black-hole. Accessed 29 March 2024.
What is Polarized Light? https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/what-is-polarised-light. Accessed 29 March 2024.
