A research team utilized NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to study the jets ejected by black holes, uncovering surprising findings.
David Bogensberger, the lead author of the study, stated, "We demonstrated a new approach to studying jets, and I believe there is much interesting work to be done." Black holes, once merely theoretical constructs 50 years ago, are now observable phenomena.
Current technology has enabled the capture of numerous images of black holes through Earth-based radio telescopes, contributing to a vast data collection that improves with advancements in telescope capabilities. Supermassive black holes, millions to billions of times the mass of our Sun, reside at the centers of nearly all large galaxies in the universe.
Falling into a black hole results in certain death, as cosmic material nearing a black hole reaches a point of no return. However, scientists have noted unusual behavior at the edges of black hole accretion disks, where rapidly rotating material behaves unexpectedly.
A small fraction of this material can suddenly change direction, leading to the ejection of high-energy particles into space in the form of jets extending in opposite directions. The underlying mechanism of this process remains unknown, but these jets are extremely bright and are detectable in X-rays.