By Emil Andronic | 2024-05-04
M87 and the relativistic jet of its black hole
On 05/05/2024 10:00 pm by Andrea Iorio| Marino, Rome, Italy
M87, also known as Virgo A or NGC 4486, is a supergiant elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo that contains several trillion stars. It is about 53 million light-years from Earth and is the second-brightest galaxy within the northern Virgo Cluster.
M87 has an active supermassive black hole at its core, which forms the primary component of an active galactic nucleus. In 1947, a prominent radio source, Virgo A, was identified with errors in its measured position that overlapped the location of M87. The source was confirmed to be M87 by 1953, and the linear relativistic jet emerging from the core of the galaxy was suggested as the cause. The relativistic jet of plasma emerging from the core extends at least 5,000 light-years from the nucleus and consists of matter ejected from a supermassive black hole.
The image shows M87 with its satellite galaxies and in the magnification the relativistic jet of M87 is visible. This result was obtained with my amateur gear and by decreasing the brightness of the galaxy's core to emphasize the relativistic jet.
ZWO ASI533MC Pro (gain 101, offset 40, -10°C)
ZWO OAG & ASI 120MM for guiding
Tecnosky RC6" f9
Skywatcher EQM-35 Pro
Optolong L-Pro filter
Pixinsight and Photoshop