👁️ The Eye of Sauron captured in space: an unprecedented image

A cosmic eye gazing at Earth from billions of light-years away. Astronomers have captured an unprecedented image of a blazar's magnetic field, nicknamed the "Eye of Sauron."

This image, the result of fifteen years of observations, provides insight into the mechanisms at work. Blazars like PKS 1424+240 are supermassive black holes emitting jets of particles at speeds close to that of light. Their near-perfect alignment with Earth makes them particularly visible and bright.


Researchers used the VLBA radio telescope array to reconstruct this unique image. The jet's alignment with Earth amplified the signals, making this detailed observation possible. This rare configuration provides a unique window into the extreme processes occurring near supermassive black holes.

The study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics marks a significant milestone in understanding blazars. It reveals, among other things, how magnetic fields influence the formation and direction of jets. These discoveries could also shed light on the origin of neutrinos, those ghostly particles that traverse the Universe almost without interaction.

How do blazars produce neutrinos?

Blazars are extremely energetic cosmic sources, capable of accelerating particles to phenomenal speeds. In these environments, protons can reach such high energies that they transform into neutrinos—particles with almost no mass and extremely difficult to detect.

Magnetic fields play a key role in this process. They channel and accelerate particles along the jets, creating ideal conditions for neutrino production. This discovery helps explain why some blazars are significant sources of these ghostly particles.

Understanding this mechanism is important for high-energy astrophysics. It allows scientists to better grasp the extreme processes occurring in the Universe, particularly near supermassive black holes.

Why is the alignment of blazars with Earth so important?

The near-perfect alignment of blazar jets with Earth significantly amplifies their brightness. This effect, due to Einstein's special relativity, makes these objects among the brightest in the Universe in the gamma-ray and X-ray domains.

This alignment also allows astronomers to study the internal structure of jets in detail. Without this particular configuration, the details of magnetic fields and particle acceleration processes would remain largely invisible.

This orientation also favors the detection of neutrinos emitted by blazars. It thus provides an opportunity to study these elusive particles and better understand their role in the Universe.