Astronomers have recently captured groundbreaking images of a plasma jet from a supermassive black hole in the blazar 3C 279. The complex, twisted patterns of the jet challenge established theories and suggest the influence of magnetic fields.
Larger than Earth, a telescope in space found the plasma jet. Through a network of radio telescopes both on Earth and in space, astronomers have managed to obtain the most detailed view of a jet of plasma emerging from a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy, specifically the blazar 3C 279.
Insights into blazars, the brightest and most powerful cosmic sources of electromagnetic radiation, have been revealed. Blazars are composed of galaxies with a central supermassive black hole consuming matter from a surrounding disk. The jet slopes almost directly at the observer.
The resulting view was made possible by an international effort and advanced radio telescope networks. Their discoveries challenge the existing viewpoint and propose a potential revision of the standard theory. The findings and breakthrough images of the plasma jet were published in Nature Astronomy.
Theoretical Implications and Challenges
Insights into Blazars
A team of researchers, including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, imaged the closest region of the jet in the blazar 3C 279 at an unprecedented angular resolution. They detected helical filaments, revealing potential revisions of existing theoretical models that explain the processes behind the formation of jets in active galaxies.
“Thanks to RadioAstron, the orbiting radio telescope reaching distances as far as the moon and a network of twenty-three radio telescopes across Earth, we have obtained the highest-resolution image of a blazar’s interior to date, allowing us to observe the internal structure of the jet in such detail for the first time,” says researcher Antonio Fuentes, leading the work.
Technological Advancements and Collaboration
The RadioAstron project scientist Yuri Kovalev, now at the MPIfR, has emphasized the importance of healthy international collaborations to achieve such results. “Observatories from twelve countries have been synchronized with the space antenna using hydrogen clocks, forming a virtual telescope the size of the distance to the Moon.”
Anton Zensus, director of the MPIfR, and RadioAstron project over the last two decades highlight the importance of international scientific collaboration and the planning behind the design of the mission before the satellite’s launch. They credited the connectivity of large telescopes on the ground like Effelsberg and the careful analysis of data in the VLBI correlation center in Bonn for the actual images.
