January 23, 2018

Artist's concept of winds around a black hole stealing gas from a companion (Image courtesy NASA/Swift/A. Simonnet, Sonoma State University)

An article published in the journal “Nature” describes the study of 12 binary systems with X-ray emissions and the presence of a black hole. A team of researchers found evidence of the continuous presence of strong winds that surround the black holes studied throughout their outbursts, which consist in very intense emissions. This research offers new information on the way in which masses move towards black holes and on black holes’ influence on the environment around them.