New Data On The Composition Of Relativistic Jets From Black Holes

Artist impression. Image: Riccardo Lanfranchi

It is known that black holes launch relativistic jets both in stellar-mass binary systems and at the centres of galaxies, in the so-called ‘quasars’. Although jets have been studied for decades, their composition has remained uncertain. Now, a work, published on Nature and led by researchers from the University of Barcelona, the German headquarters of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and Curtin University (Australia), presents the detection of atomic nuclei in the relativistic jets from the black hole binary system 4U 1630-47.

“In this work, we have found the composition of relativistic jets launched from around black holes; however, more studies are needed to understand if results can be extrapolated to other relativistic jet sources”, explains Simone Migliari, from the Institute of Sciences of the Cosmos of the UB (ICCUB). According to the researcher, the research proves that relativistic jets might be ‘heavy jets’ containing atomic nuclei, rather than ‘light jets’ consisting of electrons and positrons only”. “The finding —he adds— implies that ‘heavy jets’ carry away significantly more energy from the black hole than ‘lighter’ ones”.

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