Forming around one-sixth of its mass, M87's stars have a nearly spherically symmetric distribution. Their population density decreases with increasing distance from the core. It has an active supermassive black hole at its core, which forms the primary component of an active galactic nucleus.

Apr 10, 2019 · The image reveals the black hole at the center of Messier 87 [1], a massive galaxy in the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster. This black hole resides 55 million light-years from Earth and has a mass 6.5 billion times that of the Sun [2].

Jan 27, 2025 · M87, giant elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo whose nucleus contains a black hole, the first ever to be directly imaged. M87 is the most powerful known source of radio energy among the thousands of galactic systems constituting the so-called Virgo Cluster.

Jan 22, 2024 · This supermassive black hole, 6.5 billion times the mass of our Sun, resides at the center of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy in the Virgo galaxy cluster, located 55 million light-years from Earth.

Sep 27, 2024 · Streaming out from the center of M87 like a cosmic searchlight is one of nature’s most amazing phenomena: a black-hole-powered jet of subatomic particles traveling at nearly the speed of light.

Jan 18, 2024 · The new era of black hole direct imaging, spearheaded by the extensive analysis of the 2017 observations of M87*, opens a new window to investigate black hole astrophysics and allows us to test the theory of general relativity at a fundamental level.

Jan 18, 2024 · In 2017, the EHT took the first image of a black hole. This object, M87*, is the beating heart of the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 and lives 55 million light years away from Earth. The image of the black hole revealed a bright circular ring, brighter in …

Apr 25, 2019 · The galaxy M87, imaged here by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, is home to a supermassive black hole that spews two jets of material out into space at nearly the speed of light. The inset shows a close-up view of the shockwaves created by the two jets.

Jan 6, 2020 · Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have seen that the famous giant black hole in Messier 87 is propelling particles at speeds greater than 99% of the speed of light.

Jan 22, 2025 · Using observations from 2017 and 2018, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has deepened our understanding of the supermassive black hole at the center of Messier 87 (M87*).