Relativistic jets originate close to a black hole’s pull

It is not uncommon to find a black hole at the gravitational center of a galaxy. In some galaxies, those black holes power what's called an active galactic nucleus, which accelerates jets of particles directly away from its center. While scientists have yet to figure out precisely how this happens, they have discovered some important details that may ultimately help them understand the mechanism of acceleration.

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are disk-shaped regions that form as black holes draw matter into them. They have a very high luminosity over many parts of the electromagnetic spectrum (they're sometimes visible at all wavelengths), which is believed to be emitted by the mass accumulated around the black hole. But AGNs also shoot a stream of particles in both directions from the center of the disk, creating narrow twin jets that be be up to hundreds of light years long.

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