NASA’s James Webb catches a supermassive black hole feeding
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured detailed images of gas strands feeding a supermassive black hole, helping astronomers understand how these cosmic engines grow. The observations reveal how material travels from a galaxy's atmosphere into the accretion disk, potentially influencing the host galaxy's evolution.
Why it matters
Solving the mystery of how black holes fuel themselves is critical to understanding the life cycle and structure of galaxies in the universe.
New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, are giving astronomers their clearest look yet at how supermassive black holes obtain the gas they need to grow.
The images reveal long strands of gas linking a galaxy's hot outer atmosphere to a rapidly rotating disk surrounding its central black hole. That disk acts as the final reservoir of material before gas falls inward and fuels the black hole.
An international research team led by the Universit de Montr al, with contributions from Michigan State University, carried out the observations and analyzed the results. Their findings, published in the July 14 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters , help address a question that has challenged astronomers for decades.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in