Black hole jets travel at half light speed, carrying energy of 10,000 suns.

Scientists have for the first time measured the real-time power and speed of jets emitted by a black hole, finding they travel at half the speed of light and carry energy equivalent to 10,000 suns. Researchers led by Steve Prabu used 18 years of radio data from a global telescope network to analyze the jets in the Cygnus X-1 system, revealing that 10% of the energy from matter falling into the black hole is carried away by the jets. This advance offers new insights into how black holes influence galaxy formation through shocks and turbulence.