Facts about M87

1. 08

   Approximately 2,000 globular clusters orbit M87's core, compared to the Milky Way's estimated 150 to 200 globular clusters.

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2. 07

   Radio observations reveal that M87's giant elliptical structure spans approximately 120,000 light-years in diameter, dwarfing our Milky Way galaxy by a factor of twelve.

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3. 06

   Observations from Chandra X-ray Observatory reveal that M87 emits powerful X-rays from its core, indicating extremely hot gas being accelerated near its black hole at temperatures exceeding 10 million Kelvin.

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4. 05

   Astronomers measured M87's black hole shadow at approximately 42 microarcseconds across using the Event Horizon Telescope in 2019, providing the first direct visual evidence of a black hole's event horizon.

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5. 04

   Located approximately 55 million light-years from Earth, M87 is a supergiant elliptical galaxy containing an estimated one trillion stars.

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6. 03

   In 1918, Heber Curtis observed a bright jet of light extending from M87, making it the first documented observation of an active galactic nucleus ejecting relativistic material.

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7. 02

   A relativistic jet erupting from M87 extends approximately 5,000 light-years into space, making it one of the most powerful particle beams observed in the universe.

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8. 01

   The supermassive black hole at the center of M87 weighs approximately 6.5 billion times more than Earth's Sun.

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