At present there is no way to directly see a Black Hole. There are ways though to see evidence of the existance of a black hole. One of these is the plasma jet that is ejected from the magnetic field around the Black Hole. M87 has one of these jets. M87 is a galaxy located 50 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It harbours a super-massive black hole of 3 thousand million solar masses from which a jet of particles and magnetic fields emanates. It can be observed visually.

On the night of April 25, 2008 I chose it as one of my observing goals for that evening. In order to accomplish this task I went to Pearson College and opened up the dome that houses Jack Newton's old f/5, 25 inch GEM mounted newtonian.

While I waited for the air in the dome to stabilize I tried for the jet using my f/5 12.5" dob. At best I have suspicions I may have glimpsed it at 445X magnification. Without tracking though, there was not enough time with the object in the field of view to be definate. (make mental note, keep saving for the ServoCat)

Later in the dome, with the aide of the steady tracking of the mount I able to employ a power of 635X magnification. The galaxy practically filled the field of view. The core glowed brightly and the stellar nucleus was easily visible. The seeing wasn't the best but at times when it steadied, I could see a thin bright line extending from the core. It always "popped out" in exactly the same spot. I did the accompanying sketch. Then in order to determine directions. In order to do this I had to climb down the ladder, switch off the tracking, then race back up the ladder to the eyepiece to watch the galaxy drift out of the field.

Later, comparing images of the galaxy and jet I was able to match up the few stars visible at the eyepiece. Their orientation confirm that what I was seeing corresponds with the direction that the jet would be pointing. This direction is slightly north of west.

Here is the sketch that I did of M87 with its plasma jet using an f/5 25" newtonian reflector at 635X. The seeing was A 3, and the SQM reading was 21.14.