Burp Up The Bubble

NRAO/AUI/NSF/NASA Artist’s concept depicts a tidal disruption event, which occurs when a star passes fatally close to a supermassive black hole. The easiest way to find a black hole is to look for its jets. These trails of ionized gas stream away from a black hole at near light speed. They form when a black hole consumes matter and forms an accretion disk of hot plasma. Inactive black holes don’t produce jets, making them harder to discover. But just how active does a black hole need to be for jets to form? This is the focus of a new study in Nature Astrophysics.1 Stellar-mass black holes are usually active because of a companion star. If a black hole closely orbits a stellar companion, it can strip the outer layers of the star and consume the material. The more material a black hole can capture, the faster it can consume matter and the more active it is. At least up to a point. The faster a black hole consumes matter, the more heat and light it produces. If a black hole consumes…

Commenting on Bubbles has been removed. Why? If you want to talk about this post, write to the author, use the comments on their blog if it has them, or reply with a "RE:" post on your own blog. Suggestions? feedback@bubbles.town