Supermassive black hole activity in galaxy M87. X-ray image of the core of the massive galaxy M87, as seen by ESA's XMM-Newton space observatory. M87 is a giant elliptical galaxy of several trillion stars, making it one of the most massive galaxies in the local universe. It is 52 million light years from Earth, in the constellation of Virgo. The supermassive black hole at its core gathers infalling material and produces powerful jets (visible here) that launch energetic particles outwards, producing filaments and shockwaves that are also visible at X-ray wavelengths. Image obtained on 16 July 2017, by XXM-Newton's EPIC (European Photon Imaging Camera) sensor.