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Ron: I’m Dr. Ronald Gamble.

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I conduct my own research
on the physics of supermassive

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black holes and the relativistic jets
that come off of them.

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Jacob: These jets

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What are those and how does how are those related to black holes?

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Ron: Oh, boy. So that’s ... those, those are very exciting.

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Jacob: Okay.

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Ron: You can think of them as kind of black hole lasers or lighthouses.

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Jacob: Okay. 
Ron: Right?

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So they're coming not inside the
black hole because nothing can come out.

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Jacob: Yeah. Ron: But they're coming
right off the surface. Right?

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So there is what's called a photon sphere
where all the photons,

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the light scatters, it’s kind of
like the last illuminated

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surface around a black hole
where all the light scatters around.

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And these things are swirling

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all there at the speed of light,
and then they get blasted off.

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Jacob: Okay

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Ron: Part of the reason why they get blasted off is due to the magnetic

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fields around black holes.
There are still unknown questions as to

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why the black hole spews a jet out

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and why these particles go from zero
to light-speed in an instant.

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Jacob: Wow. 
Ron: Yeah.

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So that's part of my research:
trying to figure out the why.

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Jacob: Yeah Ron: But other than that, the jets, they can be very long.

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We're talking 3,000 light-years to 3 million light-years.  Jacob: Wow.

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So they're very, very long, very bright.
Jacob: Sure.

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Ron: And the jets pointing directly at us, 

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those are active galactic nuclei that are called blazars.

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Again, it gives us a different perspective,
it gives us kind of like a 

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a down-the-barrel kind of look

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on what the jet is doing, what
what information it's giving us.