Scientists have recently discovered that black holes, regardless of their location in the galaxy, possess strong magnetic fields that swirl around them. This discovery was made by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) which announced that a new image from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) revealed a ring of magnetic fields surrounding the Sagittarius A* black hole in polarized light for the first time.
The magnetic fields observed around the Milky Way’s black hole were described as strong, twisted and organized by Sara Issaoun from Harvard’s Center for Astrophysics who co-led the project. The EHT captured the halo of light produced by the flow of matter and gases that black holes attract and expel, providing key insights into their behavior.
The M87* black hole in the heart of the M87 Galaxy also exhibits similar magnetic fields to those found in our galaxy, leading scientists to believe that these powerful forces may be a common feature of all black holes. Despite nothing being able to escape its gravitational pull, advances in technology have made it possible for astronomers to indirectly observe these cosmic entities.
Angelo Ricarte, a member of Harvard Black Hole Initiative and co-lead of the project stated that imaging polarized light from hot glowing gas near black holes allows scientists to directly infer their strengths and structures. Mariafelicia De Laurentis, deputy scientist at EHT and professor at University of Naples Federico II noted that strong magnetic fields observed around both M87* and Sagittarius A* could be a universal fundamental feature of these systems.