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15h ago

Astronomers Measure Cygnus X-1’s ‘Dancing’ Black Hole Jets at 10,000 Suns of Power

The deflected jets provide a direct yardstick for how black holes heat and shape galaxies.

Visible light component of Cygnus X-1, a rich source of X-rays in the constellation Cygnus, with a red nebula, is pictured, with an overlay showing an illustration of a black hole with an accretion disk and powerful jets interacting with a massive blue-white companion star.
image: ©vannet | iStock
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Overview

  • The Nature Astronomy study, published Thursday, directly measured the jet power in the Cygnus X-1 system at about the output of 10,000 Suns.
  • Researchers analyzed 18 years of Earth-spanning radio images that used linked telescopes to see how the companion star’s powerful wind bent the jets.
  • Modeling that bending showed the jets moving near half the speed of light, roughly 150,000 kilometers per second.
  • The team calculated that about 10 percent of the energy released by infalling matter leaves as jets, backing a key value used in galaxy-evolution models.
  • With the Square Kilometre Array poised to detect jets in vast numbers, this measurement becomes a benchmark to calibrate future studies across many black holes.