Powerful Jets

Everything about M87 is big. The galaxy spans a million light-years, and is perhaps 200 times as massive as our home galaxy, the Milky Way. A black hole that’s many times bigger than our own solar system sits at the galaxy’s heart, encircled by a disk of superhot gas. And “jets” of charged particles shoot out from the black hole’s poles, stretching across hundreds of thousands of light-years.
Similar jets shoot away from many black holes. They’re powered by the disks of hot gas and by strong magnetic fields.
The gas comes from interstellar clouds, winds from nearby stars, or stars that have been pulled apart by a black hole’s gravity. As atoms in the disk drop closer to the black hole, they move faster and faster. They get so hot that they’re ripped apart, producing a soup of electrically charged particles.
The spinning disk also produces a powerful magnetic field. And the black hole may spin as well, also generating a strong magnetic field.
The field may catch some of the charged part