A view of the Milky Way supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* in polarised light

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, who produced the first ever image of our Milky Way black hole released in 2022, has captured a new view of the massive object at the centre of our Galaxy: how it looks in polarised light. This is the first time astronomers have been able to measure polarisation, a signature of magnetic fields, this close to the edge of Sagittarius A*. This image shows the polarised view of the Milky Way black hole. The lines overlaid on this image mark the orientation of polarisation, which is related to the magnetic field around the shadow of the black hole.

Credit:

EHT Collaboration

About the Image

Id:eso2406a
Type:Observation
Release date:27 March 2024, 14:00
Related releases:eso2406
Size:3600 x 3600 px

About the Object

Name:Sagittarius A*
Type:Milky Way : Galaxy : Component : Central Black Hole
Constellation:Sagittarius
Category:Quasars and Black Holes

Image Formats

Large JPEG
1.2 MB
Screensize JPEG
141.4 KB

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1024x768
168.6 KB
1280x1024
239.4 KB
1600x1200
335.6 KB
1920x1200
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2048x1536
498.6 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):17 45 40.04
Position (Dec):-29° 0' 28.24"
Field of view:0.00 x 0.00 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.0° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Millimeter1.3 mmEvent Horizon Telescope