This ultravioet image of the jet at the center of galaxy M87 shows it consists of a string of knots along a narrow cone that opens out in the direction away from the center of M87. Features as small as ten light years in diameter can be seen.
The bright knots in the jet are possibly regions where the high-speed electrons are subject to additional acceleration.
In this view, the background light of billions
of stars in M87 is naturally suppressed relative to the jet. This occurs
because the jet shines brightly in the ultraviolet, while the stars, which
are old objects and mostly yellow, orange, or red, produce little ultraviolet
light.
Camera: Faint Object Camera
Credit: NASA and ESA
