New, highly detailed images from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration reveal fascinating changes in the magnetic fields around the supermassive black hole M87*. The data shows that M87*’s magnetic fields were turning in one direction in 2017, settled in 2018, and then dramatically reversed direction by 2021. Scientists think this magnetic flip could be caused by the black hole’s internal magnetic structure combined with external influences, such as a Faraday screen. These findings off

Ever wondered what the stripes in the images of M87* actually mean? The light from M87* is slightly polarized, and these stripes reveal the direction of that polarization. Think of it like looking through a polarizing filter - similar to those in reflex cameras or 3D cinema glasses - where the image changes depending on the filter’s angle. In this animation, we explore how the polarized image of M87* varies over time when viewed through a hypothetical polarizer at different angles. Dive into the