Black hole detected rotating at 80% of the universal limit: what does this mean?

The supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87, known as M87*, continues to reveal its secrets. A new study using data from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has determined that this black hole is spinning at approximately 80% of the maximum possible speed allowed by the laws of physics.

When was M87* identified?

M87* was the first black hole to be imaged directly in 2019. Since then, it has become a reference point for black hole research. Weighing in at 6.5 billion solar masses, its immense gravitational pull shapes the entire galaxy around it.

By analyzing the brightness difference between the two sides of its surrounding ring of plasma, researchers identified a relativistic Doppler effect – light from material moving toward us appears brighter than light from material moving away.

This contrast allowed scientists to estimate the speed of the plasma orbiting nearest to the black hole: around 42 million meters per second, or 14% the speed of light. From this, they calculated M87*’s spin parameter, a measure of how fast a black hole is rotating. The result: 0.8 on a scale from 0 to 1, with 1 being the theoretical maximum. In fact, researchers believe this may be a lower bound – M87* could be spinning even faster.

What does this black hole insight mean?

This rapid rotation has important implications. It affects the formation of powerful relativistic jets – streams of particles that shoot out from the galaxy’s center – and helps explain how black holes interact with their environment. Crucially, the method used here could now be applied to other black holes captured by the EHT.

For more detail on this you can check out the paper ‘New estimates of the spin and accretion rate of the black hole M87∗' by arxiv.

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