Energy-saving space engines: black holes can be green.(This Week)

From: Science News | Date: April 29, 2006| Author: | Copyright information

Some seemingly quiet black holes are actually efficient engines that emit jets of high-energy particles. This finding, from the first study to directly measure the efficiency of black holes, offers a hint as to why the universe isn't more crowded with stars.

All black holes swallow matter and spit out energy. Their gravitational pull traps clouds of hot, X-ray-emitting gas, and the black holes spew radiation or jets of high-energy particles.

The energy that black holes send out affects their environments. Scientists had presumed that young black holes producing quasars, ...

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