Regina Barber

Rogers is an astrophysicist and a professor at Stanford University. In the 1970s, when he and his friend Roman Znayek were at the University of Cambridge over in the UK, they started to look at how these black hole jets were created. And they came up with a hypothesis for how these jets were powered.

Rogers is an astrophysicist and a professor at Stanford University. In the 1970s, when he and his friend Roman Znayek were at the University of Cambridge over in the UK, they started to look at how these black hole jets were created. And they came up with a hypothesis for how these jets were powered.

Rogers is an astrophysicist and a professor at Stanford University. In the 1970s, when he and his friend Roman Znayek were at the University of Cambridge over in the UK, they started to look at how these black hole jets were created. And they came up with a hypothesis for how these jets were powered.

But it would take some time for all these pieces to come together to see if this explanation held true. So today on the show, a look at the most energetic objects in the universe, supermassive black hole jets. What are they, how they might be created, and what new images can tell us about these mysterious objects? I'm Regina Barber, and you're listening to Shortwave, a science podcast from NPR.

But it would take some time for all these pieces to come together to see if this explanation held true. So today on the show, a look at the most energetic objects in the universe, supermassive black hole jets. What are they, how they might be created, and what new images can tell us about these mysterious objects? I'm Regina Barber, and you're listening to Shortwave, a science podcast from NPR.

But it would take some time for all these pieces to come together to see if this explanation held true. So today on the show, a look at the most energetic objects in the universe, supermassive black hole jets. What are they, how they might be created, and what new images can tell us about these mysterious objects? I'm Regina Barber, and you're listening to Shortwave, a science podcast from NPR.

Okay, so funny thing about black hole jets, they were first imaged before astronomers could even agree on what a galaxy was. Heber Curtis is one of the astronomers at the center of that debate, and he's the one who first identified a jet in 1918. At first, it seemed like a strange bright streak in the cosmos.

Okay, so funny thing about black hole jets, they were first imaged before astronomers could even agree on what a galaxy was. Heber Curtis is one of the astronomers at the center of that debate, and he's the one who first identified a jet in 1918. At first, it seemed like a strange bright streak in the cosmos.

Okay, so funny thing about black hole jets, they were first imaged before astronomers could even agree on what a galaxy was. Heber Curtis is one of the astronomers at the center of that debate, and he's the one who first identified a jet in 1918. At first, it seemed like a strange bright streak in the cosmos.

The ray was coming out of a fuzzy thing named M87, we now know to be an enormous galaxy 50 million light years from Earth.

The ray was coming out of a fuzzy thing named M87, we now know to be an enormous galaxy 50 million light years from Earth.

The ray was coming out of a fuzzy thing named M87, we now know to be an enormous galaxy 50 million light years from Earth.

Fast forward to the early 70s when Roger was starting graduate school and astronomy was buzzing with new discoveries. Humans had landed on the moon in 1969. The first black hole was confirmed to exist in 1971 after decades of mathematical theory. And astronomers were looking at the really bright centers of galaxies in our universe. The centers of these galaxies have extremely massive black holes.

Fast forward to the early 70s when Roger was starting graduate school and astronomy was buzzing with new discoveries. Humans had landed on the moon in 1969. The first black hole was confirmed to exist in 1971 after decades of mathematical theory. And astronomers were looking at the really bright centers of galaxies in our universe. The centers of these galaxies have extremely massive black holes.

Fast forward to the early 70s when Roger was starting graduate school and astronomy was buzzing with new discoveries. Humans had landed on the moon in 1969. The first black hole was confirmed to exist in 1971 after decades of mathematical theory. And astronomers were looking at the really bright centers of galaxies in our universe. The centers of these galaxies have extremely massive black holes.

And some also seem to have these bright streaks or jets of energy coming from the middle. Just like the one Curtis saw coming out of M87 decades earlier.

And some also seem to have these bright streaks or jets of energy coming from the middle. Just like the one Curtis saw coming out of M87 decades earlier.

And some also seem to have these bright streaks or jets of energy coming from the middle. Just like the one Curtis saw coming out of M87 decades earlier.

And these jets they found that were coming from these black holes were huge, four times as long as they were wide. These blazing streaks were stretching far past the width of the galaxies they lived in.

And these jets they found that were coming from these black holes were huge, four times as long as they were wide. These blazing streaks were stretching far past the width of the galaxies they lived in.