The jets are produced by, presumably, electromagnetic phenomena occurring in the accretion disks of matter that orbit just outside the black holes. The material escapes because it is never really inside the black holes to start with. The above photo by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a jet of particles leaving a central disk. We now know that at the center of the disk there is a billion solar mass black hole. Jets are also found near new-born stars which still have solar system-sized disks of gas orbiting them. The production of these jets seems to have a lot to do with the formation of magnetically active disks of gas and dust.
Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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