Astronomers Capture Rare Gamma-Ray Flare from M87's Supermassive Black Hole

The 2018 Event Horizon Telescope campaign observed an unprecedented high-energy outburst from M87*, offering new insights into black hole jets and particle acceleration.

The gamma-ray flare, the first detected from M87* in over a decade, lasted three days and originated from an emission region less than 170 astronomical units in size.
The flare was captured during a multi-wavelength observational campaign involving over 25 telescopes, including NASA's Fermi-LAT, Chandra, and NuSTAR, alongside major ground-based observatories.
The high-energy outburst revealed rapid variability in gamma rays, suggesting a highly compact and complex emission region approximately ten times the size of the black hole itself.
Researchers observed changes in the asymmetry of the black hole's light ring, indicating a potential connection between the flare and the dynamics of the jet and event horizon structures.
This discovery provides a unique opportunity to study particle acceleration mechanisms in black hole jets and test theoretical models of gamma-ray flare origins.