JWST Achieves Record Resolution with AMI,Revealing Secrets of Circinus Galaxy’s Black Hole
Recent advancements utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have resulted in its sharpest-ever image,thanks to a technique called Aperture Masking Interferometry (AMI). AMI manipulates the light entering JWST’s detectors, effectively doubling the telescope’s resolution.
According to astrophysicist Joel Sanchez-Bermudez, this doubling is akin to “observing this region with a 13-meter space telescope,” instead of JWST’s actual 6.5-meter diameter.
This enhanced resolution allowed JWST to observe a 33-light-year-wide area at the center of the Circinus galaxy with unprecedented clarity. The findings revealed that approximately 87% of the excess infrared emissions originate from the dusty disk actively feeding the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). This discovery challenges previous theories that attributed the emissions to hot dusty winds or residual starlight, showing those sources contribute less than 1% of the total.
The image provides valuable insight into the processes occurring around the SMBH at the heart of Circinus, specifically the “inner surface of the hole of the doughnut” – the dusty disk fueling the black hole.
