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Scientists discover how stellar-mass black holes emit powerful plasma jets

Scientists discover how stellar-mass black holes emit powerful plasma jets
The inner edge of the gas disk rapidly shrinks towards the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) near the stellar black hole, triggering the eruption of a plasma jet. The jet continues to erupt until the inner edge stops moving, at which point the jet ceases. Credit: T. Kawaguchi (University of Toyama) & K. Yamaoka (Nagoya University)

Black holes are fundamental to the structure of galaxies and critical in our understanding of gravity, space, and time. A stellar mass black hole is a type of black hole that forms from the gravitational collapse of a massive star at the end of its life cycle. These black holes typically have masses ranging from about 3 to 20 times the mass of our sun.

Sometimes black holes generate beams of ionized gas (plasma) that shoot outward at nearly light spee...

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