The biggest JETS from a BLACK HOLE ever found

AD - Go to ground.news/dr... to stay fully informed with the latest Space and Science news. Save 40% off the Vantage plan through my link for unlimited access this month only. Black holes burp. A lot. And we think these burps have a huge impact on how the Universe has evolved. If there’s a strong magnetic field around the black hole, that burp material can get funnelled up and away into a really tight jet. And these jets end up being way bigger than the entire galaxy that we find a black hole in. For example, this galaxy Hercules A is a really famous example of this, with jets than span almost a million light years. But this month, a team of astronomers, Oei and collaborators, reported finding the longest black hole jet ever seen at 23 million light years long. It is HUGE. And while it’s very cool to find the longest or biggest of something out there in the universe, this discovery also has big implications for how the Universe has evolved and galaxies grow. So in this video we’re going to chat about, 1) how Oei and collaborators found this giant black hole jet, Porphyrion, 2) the properties of Porphyrion, and how it compares to all the other black hole jets they found, and 3) what effect black hole jets of this size could have on the universe around them.
Oei et al. (2024; Porphyrion discovery paper) - www.nature.com...
Oei et al. (2022; previous largest jet known) - arxiv.org/pdf/...
Mostert et al. (2024; more than 8000 jets found in LOFAR) - arxiv.org/pdf/...
Correa et al. (2021; cosmic void size distribution) - arxiv.org/pdf/...
00:00 - Introduction
02:50 - AD - Ground News
04:25 - How they found these jets?
07:11 - How do they compare to other jets?
11:00 - How do these jets effect the Universe around them?
15:21 - Bloopers
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👩🏽‍💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
rebeccasmethur...

[@TWX1138]

"When you're a jet you're a jet all the way, from your first burp event to your last gamma ray!"

[@zriraum]

Your channel is like a weekly getaway to space for me. If we can't go to space well dr b's channel is a close second. Love this channel thanks doc❤

[@martincunliffe8555]

Is this how it will all end? Blasted into oblivion by a black hole burping in our direction? Fascinating new fear unlocked. Thank you Dr. Becky!

[@wakeUPdummies]

Look into the ionosphere collapsing during the pole flip. This will happen, by 2050. (If you are into scary stories.)

[@Valdagast]

Oh, they're so weird and so wonderful B-b-b-black holes and their jets

[@Bigjohn7]

Jets come from other stars like neutron stars and other massive stars. But not as large as the one you’re talking about.

[@ahcapella]

Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids. But that’s another subject for another song.

[@markalitheapprenticehacker]

if it's true that our Milky way is about 180,000 light years in diameter, than this Jet is unfathomably huge 😊

[@FriedrichHerschel]

It is. The Andromeda galaxy is just 2.5 million lightyears away. The Local Group (our cosmic neighborhood of galaxies) is about 5-8 million light years in diameter.

[@IgorEngelen1974]

when is it a burp, when is it a fart? 🙂

[@TWX1138]

A fart would have had to go through the black hole. A burp is on the intake-side. So the only farting that we'll ever get from a black hole would be in the form of Hawking Radiation.

[@ahcapella]

Farting out gas is what dying red giant stars under ~8 solar masses do as they transition to White Dwarf-hood. (And if they have _enough_ mass, they “light” their farts!)

[@markotto4281]

Depends on weather it comes from the north or south pole.

[@michiel1362]

Well a burp comes out of its mouth and….

[@tschorsch]

It's more like projectile diarrhea.

[@michaeltempsch5282]

7:30 A Father Ted moment...😊🐄🐄

[@jacksquiggle3238]

Hehe, I love that you can tell you're on the subject closest to your heart. Excellent as always, but with added fizz.

[@YULspotter]

Thanks Dr Becky for dedicating an entire episode to this jaw dropping discovery. I was hoping that you would include it in one of your monthly sky news videos,. But yes, this definitely deserved it's own video. So did you get that sweater at the Taylor Swift concert ;)

[@MercuryIsHg]

Brilliant video, thank you. This is why we love EXPERTS. They both know what they are talking about and, perhaps even more importantly, what they don't know! Thanks once again for all the great work sharing the excitement as well as the knowledge.

[@berdeter]

One thing more impressive to me is that such jets seem to be straight. That means that the orientation of that jet stayed constant for millions of years

[@zebrion5793]

The amount of pure energy being released is unfathomable to human beings. We can quantify it with numbers, but no human has a frame of reference in their real world to put that into perspective.

[@t-man2612]

I drive my family crazy with my blackhole burbs. Booty burbs

[@waldorfstatler3129]

"Jet, with the wind in your hair of a thousand laces Climb on the back, and we'll go for a ride in the sky".

[@volehunter]

It would be interesting to figure out if the size of the jets is proportional to the size of the galaxy, the size of the blocks hole, the age of the black hole……. Maybe we could get better information on the size or age of distant galaxies by measuring the black hole jets…

[@BradyHansen81]

What would happen to a star or a planet that passes through these jets? Have we observed that yet? Genuinely curious. 🙏

[@MCsCreations]

Fascinating! Thanks, dr. Becky! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@Spell01]

Do we know at what speed those jets are expelled? (Did I miss it in the video?) Also I guess there's a good chance our galaxy has one too. There's probably a couple of teams working on this already.

[@СергейБородин-з3ю]

Wow! What a smashing piece! Btw any plans to audio your book?...

[@Hermitthecog]

With all those aeons of digestion one has to wonder whether Porphyrion has ever stepped out for a wee pee. 😁

[@Lu-db1uf]

Wow, I didn't know black holes were powered by biological functions!

[@edstauffer426]

When the black hole accretion disk begins to heat up it also causes the jets of gaseous dark matter to explode straight out of the poles of the co-rotating sphere of liquid dark matter in such a strong steady stream that it carry’s plasma and liquid dark matter with it. Once the jet begins to slow and spread out the turbulence allows the zero gravity equivalent to affect some of the liquid dark matter carried in the jet. This releases more heat and the expansion further accelerates the jet. This can repeat multiple times along the jet. The heat released in these phase transitions also ionizes the plasma which builds on the magnetic fields along the jets. It can syphon the liquid dark matter from the entire galaxy. What is the dark matter content of galaxies that have recently(cosmically)been Actve.

[@Helvetica_5]

So interesting, thanks for the video 🤩

[@jimm9818]

So if my spaceship, the HMS Imaginary, were to fly through a black hole jet, what would happen to it and it's crew?

[@volehunter]

Why am I expecting a blooper of a burp?

[@ATopdog007]

If that black hole was moving away from us and we were moving away from it would it not take even longer for it's light to reach us?

[@kiwion3s]

YIPPEE ITS THURSDAY

[@dean.karres]

So the jets seem to be arrow straight. Does that mean that black hole has not moved for the length of time its jets have existed? Or, are the jets subtly curved but we can't see it at this range? What do I mean by curved? If I stream water out of a garden hose and then move the end of the hose, the steam appears to curve it lag behind the house .

[@jamesrockybullin5250]

Highly disappointed the low frequency array radio telescope is called LOFAR and not LOFART

[@laurachapple6795]

Porphyrion was also the name given to a whale who attempted to single-flipperedly destroy the Byzantine economy in the 6th century AD.

[@snow_bound266]

So what would happen to any galaxies in the path or near path of these jets? Though I imagine you could do an entire video on the various scenarios

[@Slewenski]

Somehow this sounds like there wouldn't be much left in the way pretty quickly but what do I know... Just sounds terrifyingly powerful

[@markmyewurdz4121]

Got my daily dose of mind blown with this video. Thanks!

[@naimah92]

Is there any estimation of the total mass ejected over the lifetime of the jets?

[@fae56gq14]

Interesting news 😀

[@55SwampFox]

Off topic. Whose shirt are you wearing?

[@ahcapella]

Not sure. She _should_ have worn a *Joan Jett and the BlackHoles* shirt. Er…Blackhearts.

[@hc8379-f4f]

Wouldn't dark energy itself increase the length of the jets?

[@KarlDubhe]

The prophecies of Porphyrion? Oh, no. Properties... Dang ears, full of wax. Love your videos.

[@WingwalkerBrewing]

Would the jet contain any heavier elements or would the jets orthogonal to the material disc be more about an energy release and the "burp" in the disc be more about matter?

[@DavidRexGlenn]

Is that Pat Benatar's face on Dr. Becky's shirt?

[@Jesus.the.Christ]

Galactic jets provide a bit of astronomical archeological evidence to the galaxies past interactions. If the jets are straight, we know that the galaxy in question has not had any major collisions in the time it took for the material in the jets to reach the extent that we observe. I wonder are there any examples of a galaxy or dwarf galaxy passing through the jet of a larger galaxy? Also, if you accept the idea of particulate dark matter, a galactic jet would be a uniquely particulate dark matter free environment. Black hole jets form due to the electromagnetic effects in a black hole's accretion disc, sending the material away from the black hole. Likewise, the accretion disc region would be absolutely drenched in particulate dark matter in comparison. Personally I don't accept the idea of particulate dark matter, but if I were wanting to find the Jabberwocky, that's where I'd be looking.

[@Jesus.the.Christ]

Also, galactic jets may tell us something about the black environment around the black hole based on their coherence. BH jets "puff out" at the ends due to self-interference of the material in the jet. Before the "puff out" region, the material is in alignment with itself. After some critical moment, the self-interference becomes overwhelming enough that it becomes the majority behavior of the material, resulting in the puffy appearance at the ends. It would be interesting to have a catalog of jets so we could easily compare the jets appearance and behavior against the source black holes and their galactic environments.

[@lunafoxfire]

@@Jesus.the.Christ Interesting observations, thanks Jesus Christ.

[@joen0411]

It looks like the jets are always shooting out the top or bottom of the galaxy. Do any shoot out through the galaxy? What would it do to the galaxy if it did?

[@AntoniGawlikowski]

What is this production value!? Looks awesome (apart from the awesome content as always). Good job and thanks a lot! :)

[@kp6215]

CalTech 👍

[@mahn9935]

Is that Joanna on your top ?

[@Jmcc150]

😅does a black hole a single pair of magnetic north and south poles? Would magnetic attraction solve the final parsec problem?

[@Bigjohn7]

If a black hole jet would be aimed towards the earth we are all dead!…😮

[@amirg7225]

and we will probably barely see it coming

[@spidersj12]

What I'm interested to see is an overall study looking at the axi of the jets themseles compared to the cosmi web and the voids. Is it possible that the voids are either created or enhanced in their growth because of the pressure these jets pushing away gases along these jets? Or are thes voids simply the negative space left from gravity collecting all the gases adn other matter into the filaments of teh gosmis web?

[@rachel_rexxx]

Maybe it's the first evidence of a white hole? This is above my pay grade

[@xlostlovex]

3

[@MRxMADHATTER]

It sounds like you are fat shameing this jet. 🤣🤣🤣

[@DarrenSchmalzbauer-t7j]

What it is eh

[@zztops489Y]

Not sure if the background music is a bug or a feature. Whatever it is, it’s not adding to the blog. It’s annoying. Please consider not using it.

[@Charon58]

Don’t be life in the way of that

[@alancovington4851]

does any one know why the electric/plasma universe theory is regarded as rubbish. Thanx Becky

[@osmosisjones4912]

Would sending 🧨💥💣💥 to a 🌀🌬️☁️ weaken it ? I remember a 🌀 getting weaker as it eas coming to land then gaining energy after making land fall. And how come certain words ger entire comment error 404.

[@ahcapella]

This is UtopianTube. They fear words.

[@deansilver1604]

Everything is constantly moving so measuring all this could feel like the longest conversation ever go astro physics

[@cafaque]

❤❤

[@vilivilenius1159]

Heh

[@osmosisjones4912]

What if you to be bias to not be bias what if have to block critical details. Pseudo intellectuals like saying none partisan . In aways no one can come to conclusions

[@CHIEF_420]

@GenZ @GenAlpha 🌏 = 🙉🙈🙊...

[@1d10talert]

tell me more about your pea

[@Maxfr8]

If they observed my farts, then they’d rewrite all of the books.

[@reneonier]

Taco Bell strikes again...

[@The_Nightsong]

😂😂

[@TrinityPeace]

Thank you, And Holly Quran have had information about something like that Fourteen hundred years ago, It called the piercing star, ( A-Najmo-Saqeb )* in arabic language, please call nearest Islamic center for more information * Najm : Star

[@FriedrichHerschel]

You sure that "piercing star" isn't a reference to a meteor or comet?

[@ericdere]

I don't think his name is pronounced like that. He is Dutch, so it would be like _/uj/_ (International Phonetic Alphabet)

[@richiegrey5377]

Dr. 💍💍💍💍💍💍 the clock is ticking lady🥂👩‍🦰👩‍🦰👩‍🦰🫵🍸🥂🍻👊😎🍾🍾🍾🍾USA we love you very much. 🫵😉😉😉😉

[@happykillmore349]

Only 23 million lightyears? I guess if you're into small ones...." -women