Overview: JWST delivers a landmark infrared portrait
For more than a century, astronomers have watched the brilliant jet streaming from the heart of the massive elliptical galaxy M87. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has now provided the clearest-ever infrared view of this galactic powerhouse, unveiling new details about the jet driven by M87’s central supermassive black hole and even catching sight of its elusive twin moving in the opposite direction.
In the new JWST image, the jet appears as a luminous pink ribbon unfurling across a hazy violet backdrop. The stream of charged particles shoots outward from M87’s core for thousands of light-years, with bright knots highlighting where particles are accelerated to near-light speeds. Remarkably, the infrared view also reveals the faint counter-jet about 6,000 light-years from the black hole—a feature that has long been difficult to detect due to its subtle light and unfavorable orientation.
Instrumental triumph: four infrared bands and careful image processing
The observations were made with the telescope’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam). A team led by Jan Röder of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Spain imaged the jet in four infrared bands. To isolate the jet’s emission from the glow of stars, dust, and background galaxies, the researchers performed careful light subtraction, producing the most detailed infrared portrait of M87’s outflow to date. The work is described in a paper published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Inner jet structure: helices, knots and shocks near the black hole
Close to the galaxy’s core, the jet adopts a helical pattern that hints at the complex magnetic and plasma dynamics at play near the black hole. A slow-moving feature identified as knot L appears in JWST’s image, alongside a brighter region known as HST-1—famous for its rapid motion in previous studies. Webb’s crisp view shows HST-1 breaking into two distinct substructures with different emission properties, a clear sign of shocks and evolving particle dynamics as matter accelerates toward light speed.
Farther out: the faint counter-jet and its context
Further from the black hole, the counter-jet presents as two filaments linked by a hotspot, forming a faint C-shaped structure. This morphology aligns with previous radio observations and provides important context for how the jet and counter-jet coexist and interact with the surrounding environment. The detection of the counter-jet in infrared light offers new clues about the jet’s symmetry, composition, and the role of magnetic fields in shaping its flow.
What the data reveal about particle acceleration and magnetic fields
Analysis of the infrared color variations across the jet shows evidence of synchrotron radiation—light emitted by charged particles spiraling within magnetic fields. By comparing colors across the four infrared bands, the team traced how particles accelerate, cool, and twist along the jet, offering a window into the extreme physics inside active galactic nuclei. These measurements help map the jet’s energy budget and its interaction with M87’s galactic environment.
M87 as a laboratory for extreme physics
Located about 55 million light-years away, M87 has long served as a cornerstone for understanding supermassive black holes and their jets. The 2019 first-ever direct image of M87* put the galaxy on the map; JWST adds a crucial infrared perspective that complements radio, optical, and X-ray studies. The combination of multi-wavelength data and JWST’s high-resolution infrared view makes M87 a premier natural laboratory for testing models of jet formation, particle acceleration, and magnetic field dynamics around black holes.
Looking ahead
As astronomers continue to refine infrared imaging techniques and combine JWST data with radio and high-energy observations, the M87 jet will remain a focal point for testing theories of relativistic jets. The new findings about inner-jet structure, the counter-jet, and synchrotron radiation not only deepen our understanding of M87 but also inform our broader view of how supermassive black holes sculpt their host galaxies across cosmic time.
