In the case of EHT, studying the polarisation of light allows astronomers to map the lines of the magnetic field around the event horizon of the M87 black hole. Just as polarized sunglasses only let light through with the electric field pointing in a particular direction, astronomers can detect the polarization of light coming from space using polarisers fitted in telescopies. The light polarises when it passes through certain filters, as happens with the lenses of polarized sunglasses, or when it is emitted in hot, magnetised regions of the space. ‘This work is a major milestone: the polarisation of light carries information that allows us to better understand the physics behind the image we saw in April 2019, which was not possible before,’ said Iván Martí-Vidal, coordinator of the EHT Polarimetry Working Group and GenT Distinguished Researcher at the University of Valencia, ‘revealing this new image in polarised light has taken years of work, due to the complex techniques involved in obtaining analysing data’, added the researcher. They have discovered that the light originating from a region around the M87 back hole is polarized. Since then, the EHT collaboration has delved deeper in data on the supermassive object at the heart of galaxy M87 that were gathered in 2017. On 10 of April 2019 scientists released the first image of a black hole, which showed a dark central region outlined by a bright ring-like structure. ‘We are now seeing the next crucial piece of evidence to understand how magnetic fields behave around black holes, and how activity in this very compact region of space can drive powerful jets that extend far beyond the galaxy,’ said Monika Mościbrodzka, coordinator of the EHT Polarimetry Working Group and a professor at Radboud Universiteit in the Netherlands. Astronomers Iván Martí-Vidal and Alejandro Mus, from the University of Valencia are among the specialists from different countries who have contributed to this work.
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