AI Insight
Scientists have discovered that black holes across vastly different size scales appear to launch powerful jets following the same universal mechanism. Supermassive black holes produce jets after consuming stars, then reactivate them hundreds to thousands of days later when their feeding rate decreases to approximately 2% of the Eddington limit. This same 2% threshold has been observed to trigger jet formation in much smaller stellar-mass black holes within our galaxy.
Why it matters
This finding suggests a fundamental physical law governing black hole behavior regardless of mass, which could help predict when and how black holes produce energetic jets across the universe. Understanding this universal threshold improves our ability to model black hole physics and may help explain the extreme energy output observed from these cosmic phenomena.
Understand the Science
Scientists have found evidence that black holes of vastly different sizes may launch powerful jets according to the same universal rule. Supermassive black holes can produce jets soon after tearing apart a star, then fire up again hundreds or thousands of days later when their feeding rate drops to about 2% of the Eddington limit. That same threshold is known to trigger jets from much smaller black holes in the Milky Way.
Source: Black holes of every size follow the same surprising rule