Science
Astronomers find universal threshold triggering black hole jets across scales
ScienceDaily reports that black holes of varying sizes launch powerful jets when feeding rates drop to a specific limit.
The short version
- A study published in Nature Astronomy shows black holes launch jets when feeding rates drop to about 2% of the Eddington limit.[ScienceDaily]
- Researchers evaluated 20 tidal disruption events across multiple wavelengths to analyze feeding rates and jet timing.[ScienceDaily]
- The finding connects the physics of stellar-mass and supermassive black holes, showing delayed jet eruptions hundreds of days later.[ScienceDaily]
Key facts
- The study examined twenty tidal disruption events and selected ten high-quality events observed across optical, ultraviolet, X-ray, and radio wavelengths.[ScienceDaily]
- Black holes trigger jets when their material intake drops to approximately two percent of the Eddington limit.[ScienceDaily]
- The research was led by Andrew Mummery and Adelle Goodwin and published in Nature Astronomy.[ScienceDaily]
What remains uncertain
- Observational constraints required narrowing the study's initial sample of twenty events down to ten for precise timing and rate measurements.[ScienceDaily]
Sources
Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.
- Black holes of every size follow the same surprising ruleScienceDaily - Science