Quasars - how do they emerge from black holes?

[C_Dawg]

According to everything I've read and heard (as a non-scientist), nothing can come out of a black hole.

However, on a couple of documentaries I've seen on the Nat Geo channel in the last week, the astronomers talk about quasars as being massive jets that come out of black holes, because the black holes can't contain all the gas that gets sucked into them.

This doesn't make sense to me - if "nothing" can escape, then how does a quasar do it?

 

[granpa]

simple. the gas never enters the event horizon

 

[Chronos]

Quasars are thought to originate in matter rich environments [very young galaxies]. Matter streaming into the central black hole is torn apart as it approached the event horizon releasing vast amounts of energy.

 

[C_Dawg]

Thanks for your replies - I understand it now.

 

[sardar]

I understand your confusion about how quasars emerge from black holes. It is true that according to our current understanding of black holes, nothing can escape their gravitational pull, including light. However, quasars are not actually emerging from the black holes themselves, but rather from the surrounding matter that is being pulled into the black hole.

When matter falls into a black hole, it forms a disk around it called an accretion disk. This disk can become extremely hot and emit large amounts of energy, including light, as it spirals towards the black hole. This is what we see as a quasar - a very bright and energetic object.

The jets that are seen coming out of quasars are actually caused by the intense magnetic fields around the black hole. These fields can accelerate particles to extremely high speeds, creating the jets that we observe. These jets can extend thousands of light years away from the black hole.

So while it may seem contradictory that something can escape from a black hole, it is actually the surrounding matter and energy that is being emitted, not the black hole itself. This phenomenon is still being studied and there is much we still have to learn about quasars and black holes. But through continued research and observation, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of these fascinating objects in our universe.