Messier 87 - The Virgo Cluster's Galactic Particle Accelerator
Monday, July 6, 2009 - 14:14
in Astronomy & Space
Even among giants Messier 87, with two to three billion times the mass of our sun, stands out, completely dominating the Virgo cluster. A supermassive black hole exists in the center of Messier 87 and gigantic plasma flows shoot out from the vicinity of the black hole at close to light speed. Scientists have now observed, simultaneously in gamma and radio frequencies, this active galactic core region and in doing so discovered that the elementary particles are accelerated to extremely high energy levels in closest proximity to the black hole. read more
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