First-ever image of supermassive black hole's powerful jet captured.

Astronomers have captured the first image of a colossal jet of plasma blasting into space from the edge of supermassive black hole M87*. The image also shows the shadow of the black hole and its jet together, providing insight into how these giant streams of plasma are generated. The material for the jet is diverted from the inner rim of the disk along the magnetic field lines outside the event horizon. The new image reveals that the extent of the plasma around M87* is much larger than previously believed, and the ring around the black hole is 50% larger. The research has been published in Nature.