A black hole is an astronomical object whose gravity is so strong that nothing—even light—can escape from within its event horizon. It forms when a massive star’s core collapses or through other processes, and may have an accretion disk of infalling matter that emits radiation. Supermassive black holes at galaxy centers influence stellar orbits, and mergers produce gravitational waves.
Source: nasa.gov
01/10/2024
How far can black hole jets extend? A new record was found just recently with the discovery of a 23-million light-year long jet pair from a black hole active billions of years ago. Dubbed Porphyrion for a mythological Greek giant, the impressive jets were created by a type of black hole that does not usually create long jets -- one that is busy creating radiation from infalling gas. The featured animated video depicts what it might look like to circle around this powerful black hole system. Porphyrion is shown as a fast stream of energetic particles, and the bright areas are where these particles are impacting surrounding gas. The discovery was made using data from the Keck and Mayall (DESI) optical observatories as well as LOFAR and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. The existence of these jets demonstrates that black holes can affect not only their home galaxies but far out into the surrounding universe. Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (post 1995)