WASHINGTON, April 24 (UPI) -- NASA scientists using the Chandra X-ray Observatory have determined black holes are the most fuel efficient engines in the universe.
By making the first direct estimate of how efficient or "green" black holes are, the research provides insight into how black holes generate energy and affect their environment.
The finding shows most of the energy released by matter falling toward a supermassive black hole is in the form of high-energy jets traveling at near the speed of light away from the black hole. That, say researchers, is an important discovery toward understanding how such jets can be launched from magnetized disks of gas near the black hole's event horizon -- the distance from a black hole within which nothing, even light, can escape.
"Just as with cars, it's critical to know the fuel efficiency of black holes," said lead author Steve Allen of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University. "Without this information, we cannot figure out what is going on under the hood, so to speak, or what the engine can do."
The study will appear in an upcoming issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
