Scientists observe supermassive black hole feeding on cold gas
At the center of a galaxy cluster, 1 billion light years from Earth, a voracious, supermassive black hole is preparing for a chilly feast. For the first time, astronomers have detected billowy clouds of cold, clumpy gas streaming toward a black hole, at the center of a massive galaxy cluster. The clouds are traveling at speeds of up to 355 kilometers per second — that’s almost 800,000 miles per hour — and may be only 150 light years away from its edge, almost certain to fall into the black hole, feeding its bottomless well. The observations, published today in the journal Nature, represent the first direct evidence to support the hypothesis that black holes feed on clouds of cold gas. The results also suggest that fueling a black hole — a process known as accretion — is a whole lot messier than scientists had once thought. “The simple model of black hole accretion...