Black Holes of Every Size Follow the Same Surprising Rule

The strange 2% rule: Why black holes suddenly switch on their powerful jets

A new study reveals black holes become predictable when feeding. Jets emerge when accretion rates fall to two percent of the Eddington limit. This threshold applies to black holes of vastly different sizes. Tidal disruption events offer a rare view of this process. Future observations may predict when these powerful jets will appear.

Black holes of every size follow the same surprising rule

Scientists have found evidence that black holes of vastly different sizes may launch powerful jets according to the same universal rule. Supermassive black holes can produce jets soon after tearing apart a star, then fire up again hundreds or thousands of days later when their feeding rate drops to about 2% of the Eddington limit. That same threshold is known to trigger jets from much smaller black holes in the Milky Way.

A cosmic ‘burp’ may hold clues to how black holes grow

Scientists have identified a key point in the feeding cycle when supermassive black holes launch powerful jets and outflows. The finding could help researchers understand how black holes grow and how they influence the galaxies around them.

Black Holes of All Sizes Follow the Same Surprising Rules

9 Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Stellar destruction reveals a universal rule for black hole jet formation

Stellar disruptions reveal a shared jet-launching threshold that appears to span millions-fold differences in black hole mass.

Black hole jets switch on at 2% of maximum feeding — every size, same rule

Researchers analyzing twenty events where stars were torn apart by black holes found a universal trigger for relativistic jets. The rule — 2% of the Eddington limit — applies across twelve orders of magnitude in black hole mass, from stellar-mass objects to supermassive giants hundreds of millions of times heavier.