ESOcast 235 Light: Astronomers Image Magnetic Fields at Black Hole's Edge

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, who produced the first ever image of a black hole, has today revealed a new view of the massive object at the centre of the Messier 87 galaxy: how it looks in polarised light. This is the first time astronomers have been able to measure polarisation, a signature of magnetic fields, this close to the edge of a black hole. This video summarises the discovery.

The video is available in 4K UHD.

The ESOcast Light is a series of short videos bringing you the wonders of the Universe in bite-sized pieces. The ESOcast Light episodes will not be replacing the standard, longer ESOcasts, but complement them with current astronomy news and images in ESO press releases.

Credit:

ESO

Directed by: Herbert Zodet.
Editing: Herbert Zodet.
Web and technical support: Gurvan Bazin and Raquel Yumi Shida.
Written by: Anna Purdue, Thea Elvin and Bárbara Ferreira.
Music: STAN DART (www.stan-dart.com) — Xmas Special.
Footage and photos: ESO, EHT Collaboration, L. Calçada, Digitized Sky Survey 2, ESA/Hubble, RadioAstron, De Gasperin et al., Kim et al., M. Kornmesser, C. Malin (christophmalin.com) and B. Tafreshi (twanight.org).
Scientific consultants: Paola Amico and Mariya Lyubenova.

About the Video

Id:eso2105a
Release date:24 March 2021, 15:00
Related releases:eso2105
Duration:01 m 42 s
Frame rate:25 fps

About the Object

Name:Messier 87
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Component : Central Black Hole
Category:ESOcast
Quasars and Black Holes

Ultra HD (info)


HD


Medium

Video Podcast
22.7 MB

For Broadcasters


Script

English
67.4 KB