Heber Curtis records a curious straight ray in Messier 87
Observing the nebula catalogued as Messier 87 at Lick Observatory, Heber Curtis noted a narrow linear feature projecting from its nucleus. It was the first observation of what is now understood to be a relativistic jet launched from the vicinity of a supermassive black hole, made some fifty years before black holes were taken seriously as astrophysical objects and a century before the object launching it was imaged. The feature remains one of the best-studied jets in astronomy.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Relativistic jet · phenomenon · not located
- M87* - the supermassive black hole in Messier 87 · celestial body · Virgo Cluster, constellation Virgo as seen from Earth · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
Electromagnetic extraction of energy from Kerr black holes
Describes the mechanism by which a magnetic field threading a rotating black hole extracts its rotational energy, the leading explanation for relativistic jets. V55 VERIFICATION BASIS: not consulted in session; no research tool was available. Volume and page are from recall and must be checked.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · 1977 · Partly verified
R. D. Blandford and R. L. Znajek, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 179, 433 (1977)
Recorded on Relativistic jet
- Heber Curtis records a curious straight ray in Messier 87
- A mechanism for extracting energy from a spinning black hole
- The Event Horizon Telescope observes M87* and Sagittarius A*
- The first image of a black hole shadow is published
- The M87* ring is imaged in polarised light
- A second epoch shows the ring persists and the bright spot moves
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- A second epoch shows the ring persists and the bright spot moves · 2024
- The M87* ring is imaged in polarised light · 2021-03
- The first image of a black hole shadow is published · 2019-04-10
- The Event Horizon Telescope observes M87* and Sagittarius A* · 2017-04
- A mechanism for extracting energy from a spinning black hole · 1977