The First Black Hole We Ever Saw Is Doing Something Never Seen Before

27 September 2025
By Michelle Starr



The polarization data of M87* in 2017 reveals a clockwise swirl to the magnetic field. (EHT Collaboration)

Images taken of the Universe's most photogenic black hole over time reveal strange and exciting changes in its magnetic field.

Using observations obtained using the Event Horizon Telescope in 2017, 2018, and 2021, scientists mapped changes in the polarization of M87*'s magnetic field, suggesting that, while the black hole itself is stable, there's wild and dynamic cosmic weather raging outside its event horizon.

In fact, between 2017 and 2021, the magnetic field completely flipped direction – the first time such a change has been seen in the environment around a black hole. The results could help us understand how these cosmic behemoths feed, and what powers the extreme jets they launch out into intergalactic space.

M87* is a supermassive black hole in a galaxy 55 million light-years away with a mass around 6.5 billion times the mass of the Sun. As the first subject of the Event Horizon collaboration's mission to image a supermassive black hole, the object has become one of the most studied supermassive black holes in the entire Universe.



More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-first-black-hole-we-ever-saw-is-doing-something-never-seen-before