|
In
a single exposure, astronomers were able to confirm
the existence of a supermassive black hole in
the center of galaxy M84. They did this by using
the telescope's more powerful spectrograph to
map the rapid rotation of gas at the galaxy's
center. The colorful zigzag on the right provides
the evidence. If no black hole were present, the
line would be nearly vertical. The Space Telescope
Imaging Spectrograph measured a velocity of 880,000
mph within 26 light-years of the galaxy's center.
This measurement allowed astronomers to calculate
that the black hole contains at least 300 million
solar masses. M84 is located in the Virgo Cluster
of galaxies, 50 million light-years from Earth,
and a nearby neighbor to the more massive M87
galaxy, which also contains an extremely massive
black hole. The image on the left shows the galaxy's
center in visible light.
BACK
View
Full Press Release
|