National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Long Baseline Array tagged posts

Fast-moving magnetic waves emanating from a distant supermassive black hole undulate like a whip whose handle is being shaken by a giant hand, according to a new study using National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Long Baseline Array. Scientists used this instrument to explore the galaxy/black hole system known as BL Lacertae (BL Lac) in high resolution.
The findings help researchers understand how black holes produce jets.

“The waves are excited by a shaking motion of the jet at its base,” said David Meier. It’s the 1st time Alfven waves have been identified in a black hole system. They are generated when magnetic field lines, such as those from the sun or a disk around a black hole, interact with ions, and become twisted or coiled into a helical shape...

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