Some galaxies eject powerful streams of charged particles—jets—from their centers into space. The prominent jet of Messier 87 (M87) in the constellation Virgo is visible over distances of 3,000 light-years and can be observed over the full electromagnetic spectrum. It is powered by the central engine, the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy with a mass of around 6 billion times that of our sun. The exact location around the black hole where the jets originate is still unknown.