Scientists find Cygnus X-1 jets blasting energy of 10,000 suns
Remember Cygnus X-1, the first black hole ever discovered back in the 1960s? Turns out, it's making headlines again.
Scientists just found it blasting out energy equal to 10,000 suns. After digging through 18 years of radio telescope data, researchers saw that its jets (fueled by a black hole 21 times heavier than our sun and a massive companion star) produce energy equivalent to 10,000 Suns and travel at about half the speed of light.
Cygnus X-1 ejects 10% accretion energy
This new study backs up theories about how black holes workâspecifically, that about 10% of the energy from stuff falling into Cygnus X-1 gets shot out in jets moving at one-half the speed of light.
These jets even get twisted around by winds from its companion star, which helps scientists measure their strength.
Insights like these are set to level up future research on galaxy formation and how black holes shape the universe.