Astronomers find a "universal" trigger for black hole jets

A study in Nature Astronomy shows supermassive black holes launch jets when their feeding rate drops to about 2% of the Eddington limit — the same threshold seen in stellar-mass black holes in the Milky Way. Researchers analyzed 20 tidal disruption events and modeled 10 of them.

• Jets switch on at about 2% of the Eddington limit
• 20 tidal disruption events analyzed, 10 modeled
• Threshold matches stellar-mass black holes in the Milky Way
• Findings published in Nature Astronomy