Astronomers find a universal rule for black hole jet formation

An international team of astronomers has found that black holes of all masses launch jets at the same critical accretion rate, about 2% of the Eddington limit. The conclusion is based on 20 tidal disruption events observed with telescopes in the US, Australia, India, South Africa and in space. The study was published in Nature Astronomy.

• Jets form at an accretion rate near 2% of the Eddington limit
• 20 tidal disruption events analyzed, 10 high-quality ones selected
• Rule holds for black holes from 10 to millions of solar masses
• Finding may help schedule observations for the SKA telescope from 2028