Probing the jet base of M87's supermassive black hole

Some galaxies eject powerful streams of charged particles—jets—from their centers into space. The prominent jet of Messier 87 (M87) in the constellation Virgo is visible over distances of 3,000 light-years and can be observed over the full electromagnetic spectrum. It is powered by the central engine, the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy with a mass of around 6 billion times that of our sun. The exact location around the black hole where the jets originate is still unknown.