00:03This is the first photo ever captured of a black hole, taken by the Event Horizon Telescope
00:09collaboration back in 2019. The black hole is called Messier 87, or M87, and it was a momentous
00:15achievement for astronomers. Now, after years of analysis, experts say they've discovered something
00:20new about it. It spins. Astrophysicist and study co-author Kazuhiro Hata says that determining
00:26whether or not it spins was a leading query amongst astronomers. So how did they figure
00:30it out? Especially since nothing, not even light, can exit after it has passed the black
00:34hole's event horizon? Well, they instead looked at M87's massive jet, this believed to be radiation
00:40and particles, funneled away from the black hole along its magnetic field lines. Researchers
00:44found that over an 11-year period, the jet would alter its angle by about 10 degrees and
00:48then return to its original position. That wobbling effect indicates a spinning point of origin,
00:53the black hole itself. Experts believe that most black holes spin due to observing space-time
00:58distortion around them, and that's likely all due to the speed at which they rotate, oftentimes
01:02extremely close to the speed of light.
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