Two Maunakea telescopes, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), and the Submillimeter Array (SMA), have once again combined efforts with the global “Event Horizon Telescope” network to produce a view of Pōwehi, the Black Hole at the Center of the galaxy M87. The new results show the black hole in new light – specifically, polarized light. This enables astronomers, for the first time in history, to measure a signature of magnetic fields this close to the edge of a black hole. The observations are key to explaining how M87, which is known as an active galaxy and located about 55 million light-years away, launches matter at a fraction of the speed of light from its core.
Read more, in the Joint JCMT / SMA press release.