Universe  ID: 10545

Black Hole Accretion Disc Energies

Released on January 26, 2010
A black hole is a massive object whose gravitational field is so intense that nothing - not even light (electromagnetic radiation) — can escape from within its so-called event horizon. Accretion disks of hot material encircle many black holes, and this material emits X-rays and other forms of energy. Gas closer to the black hole is hotter and emits more energetic radiation. Gas at the innermost stable orbit tells astronomers whether the black hole is spinning because a rotating black hole can host material in stable orbits much closer to its event horizon. Oppositely directed jets of gas often form in the innermost zone of black hole accretion disks.
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This animation depicts three hot blobs of matter orbiting a black hole. If placed in our Solar System, this black hole would appear like a dark abyss spread out nearly as wide as Mercury's orbit. And the three blobs (each as large as the Sun) would be as far out as Jupiter. They orbit the black hole in a lightning-quick 20,000 miles per second, over a tenth of the speed of light.
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This animation compares a non-spinning and spinning black hole.
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This animation shows the energy levels of two different points on the accretion disc of a spinning black hole.

Credits

Dana Berry (Skyworks Digital): Lead Animator
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10545

This item is part of this series:
Astrophysics Animations

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
DLESE >> Space science
SVS >> Black Hole
SVS >> Astrophysics
SVS >> Universe
NASA Science >> Universe