The SOFIA Mission Is Ending, but Its Legacy Will Be Long Felt

Finding that magnetic fields help to power black holes

Artist’s depiction of the core of a supermassive black hole, including a dusty donut-shaped ring (the torus) and collimated jets. Illustration: NASA/SOFIA/Lynette Cook

SOFIA provided evidence that magnetic fields are trapping dust near the center of active galaxy Cygnus A and that this material is feeding the supermassive black hole at its core. The presence of magnetic fields around black holes could explain why some galaxies are super active and while others, like our own, aren’t as boisterous.

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Finding that magnetic fields help to power black holes

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