Artist’s impression of a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy

This artist’s impression shows the surroundings of a supermassive black hole, typical of that found at the heart of many galaxies. The black hole itself is surrounded by a brilliant accretion disc of very hot, infalling material and, further out, a dusty torus. There are also often high-speed jets of material ejected at the black hole’s poles that can extend huge distances into space. Observations with ALMA have detected a very strong magnetic field close to the black hole at the base of the jets and this is probably involved in jet production and collimation.

Credit:

ESO/L. Calçada

About the Image

Id:eso1515a
Type:Artwork
Release date:16 April 2015, 20:00
Related releases:eso1515
Size:5000 x 3125 px

About the Object

Type:Early Universe : Galaxy : Component : Central Black Hole
Category:Illustrations
Quasars and Black Holes

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