Research
Astronomers trace a black hole’s powerful jet to a surprising source
Earth.com · By Eric Ralls ·
The Brief
- Some of the fastest-feeding black holes launch plasma jets at nearly the speed of light.
- The jets come from the region around the black hole.
- Standard models struggle to explain how such jets form while large amounts of gas are falling in.
Why it matters
The findings test how black hole jets are powered and launched, a core question in models of accretion and energy output from compact objects.
Who’s affected
- astronomers and astrophysicists
- researchers studying black holes and relativistic jets
- #black holes
- #astrophysics
- #jets
- #accretion
- #plasma
Some of the fastest-feeding black holes in the universe launch jets of plasma at nearly the speed of light. Those jets come from the region around the black hole, and standard models struggle to explain how they form when so much gas is pouring in. Now astronomers have looked…