New Image of Supermassive Black Hole M87* Reveals Detailed Insights

Improved imaging techniques confirm general relativity predictions and suggest turbulent interplay of gas and magnetic fields around the black hole.

Scientists have released a new, more detailed image of the supermassive black hole M87*, using data from observations taken in 2018. This builds upon the first image of M87* taken in 2017 and released in 2019.
The 2018 observations included data from an additional telescope in Greenland, significantly improving the image fidelity, particularly in the north-south direction.
The new image confirms that the size of the black hole's shadow has not changed, supporting the conclusion that M87* is well described by general relativity.
The brightness peak of the ring around the black hole has shifted by about 30 degrees counterclockwise compared to the 2017 image, suggesting a turbulent interplay of gas and magnetic fields around the black hole.
The EHT collaboration is now focused on the next-generation EHT (ngEHT), a project that promises even more detailed observations of black holes.