![Image](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/27/10/70291253-12019823-image-a-2_1682587182247.jpg)
A supermassive black hole and the fierce jet it emits have been imaged together for the first time in an exciting breakthrough that could shed light on the mysteries of the universe.
Astronomers hope their groundbreaking observations of the enormous object at the heart of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87) could help reveal how black holes feed and what enables them to launch energetic jets of material across intergalactic space.
The image shows for the first time the shadow of a black hole and what the powerful jet being launched from its event horizon looks like.
'We know that jets are ejected from the region surrounding black holes, but we still do not fully understand how this actually happens,' said lead author Dr Ru-Sen Lu, of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.
'To study this directly we need to observe the origin of the jet as close as possible to the black hole.'
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