Hubble image archive

Magnetic Funnel Around a Supermassive Black Hole

The accretion disk of hot plasma swirling around a supermassive black hole generates powerful magnetic fields. The disk's rotation twists the field into a funnel shape. These field lines constrict and direct the outflow of high-speed plasma from the black hole's vicinity. The res...

Date
Jan 1, 2013
Mission
Hubble Space Telescope
Archive ID
hubblesite-images-2013-32-3231-image
By

The accretion disk of hot plasma swirling around a supermassive black hole generates powerful magnetic fields. The disk's rotation twists the field into a funnel shape. These field lines constrict and direct the outflow of high-speed plasma from the black hole's vicinity. The result is a narrow, tapered, extragalactic jet.

Credits

NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)

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Source

Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.

View on NASA.gov

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