Tour: M87 in Different Wavelengths of Light

In April 2019, scientists released the first image of a black hole in the galaxy M87 using the Event Horizon Telescope, or EHT. Now data from 19 observatories and both on the ground and in space are being released that promise to give unparalleled insight into this supermassive black hole and the system it powers. These new observations could also help improve tests of Einstein s General Theory of Relativity. The immense gravitational pull of a supermassive black hole can power jets of particles that travel at almost the speed of light across vast distances. M87 s jets produce light spanning the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to visible light to gamma rays. This pattern is different for each black hole. Identifying this pattern gives crucial insight into a black hole s properties, but this is a challenge because the pattern changes with time. Scientists compensated for this variability by coordinating observations with many of the world s most powerful telescopes, collecting light fr