Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2025 May 9 [2]An artist's illustration of what the surroundings of the supermassive black hole at the center of BL Lac is shown. A white jet protrudes horizontally toward the bottom of the image, emanating from a orange accretion disk surrounding a black hole. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. IXPE Explores a Black Hole Jet Illustration Credit: [3]NASA, [4]Pablo Garcia Explanation: How do black holes create X-rays? Answering this long-standing question was significantly [5]advanced recently with data taken by NASA’s [6]IXPE satellite. X-rays cannot exit a [7]black hole, but they can be created in the [8]energetic environment nearby, in particular by a [9]jet of particles moving outward. By observing [10]X-ray light arriving from near the [11]supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy [12]BL Lac, called a [13]blazar, it was discovered that these X-rays lacked significant [14]polarization, which is expected when created more by energetic [15]electrons than [16]protons. In the [17]featured artistic illustration, a powerful [18]jet is depicted emanating from an orange-colored [19]accretion disk circling the black hole. [20]Understanding highly [21]energetic processes across the universe helps humanity to understand [22]similar [23]processes that occur on or near [24]our Earth. Put it All Together: [25]Astronomy Puzzle of the Day Tomorrow's picture: Yogi on Mars: 3D __________________________________________________________________ [26]< | [27]Archive | [28]Submissions | [29]Index | [30]Search | [31]Calendar | [32]RSS | [33]Education | [34]About APOD | [35]Discuss | [36]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell ([40]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [41]Specific rights apply. [42]NASA Web Privacy, [43]Accessibility, [44]Notices; A service of: [45]ASD at [46]NASA / [47]GSFC, [48]NASA Science Activation & [49]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2505/BLlac_NasaGarcia_4580.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablo-garcia-a943116 5. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025arXiv250501832A/abstract 6. https://www.nasa.gov/mission/imaging-x-ray-polarimetry-explorer-ixpe/ 7. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/black-holes/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031128.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240507.html 10. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/11_xrays/ 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250504.html 12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_Lacertae 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blazar 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarization_(waves) 15. https://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/whelect.html 16. https://home.cern/news/news/physics/proton-century 17. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/ixpe/nasas-ixpe-reveals-x-ray-generating-particles-in-black-hole-jets/ 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210622.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190820.html 20. https://thestatetimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Cuteness-640x381.jpg 21. https://chandra.si.edu/art/xray/ 22. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/aurora/en/ 23. https://home.cern/science/physics 24. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/facts/ 25. https://www.scigames.org/apps/webjigsaw2/index.php 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250508.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 32. https://apod.com/feed.rss 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 35. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250509 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250510.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 43. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 45. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 46. https://www.nasa.gov/ 47. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 48. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 49. http://www.mtu.edu/