We need to go back many decades in time in order to “meet” Albert Einstein and “hear” him formulate the famous Theory of Relativity. In 2023, with modern technology – at the disposal of the scientific community – opening wide the doors to the secrets of the Universe, astronomers managed to confirm the operation of a Black Hole and “bow down” to the greatness of Einstein, who, with the barely within that time, he had not only “written the future”, but had explained it in a characteristically detailed manner.

What did the study of the Black Hole at the center of the Messier 87 galaxy reveal? Astronomers have found direct evidence of a spinning black hole for the first time. The discovery was made by studying the powerful jets of energy emitted by the black hole at the heart of the neighboring galaxy Messier 87.

Scientists have long believed that the rotation of a black hole powers these jets, but only now has the theory been proven. It’s an “exciting” discovery that bolsters Einstein’s theory of relativity and could help unravel the mystery of the universe’s most enigmatic objects.

M87 is a radio galaxy located 55 million light-years from Earth and has a supermassive black hole 6.5 billion times the size of the Sun at its center.

“After the success of imaging the black hole in this galaxy, whether or not this black hole rotates has been a central quest among scientists,” said Dr. Kazuhiro Hada of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

“Now anticipation has turned into certainty. This monster black hole is indeed spinning.”

Some of this material – which is stripped from gas clouds and stars – is swallowed by the black hole, but a small amount is also ejected at more than 99.99 percent of the speed of light.

Using data from a global network of radio telescopes from 2000-2022, researchers have now revealed that the jet appears to swing like a pendulum on an 11-year cycle.