Accretion Disks

Science

How Black Hole Spins Reveal the Secrets of Ultraluminous Light

Gas that swirls around black holes forms powerful disks which are among the universe’s most effective energy converters. These disks emit light and jets of plasma, making black holes not just mysterious, but also extremely energetic. Recent simulations have uncovered that as black hole spins, these disks can wobble which changes the direction of the light and plasma they emit.…