Astronomers say they have peered for the first time into the massive jet of particles fired out of a ‘blazar’ – the most energetic type of black-hole at the centre of a galaxy.

Blazars have opposite plasma jets firing out from a black hole at near-light speed. According to theoretical predictions these jets are powered by magnetic fields twisted by rotation of the hole’s ‘accretion disk’, the collection of material pulled inward towards the hole.

In this week’s Nature Alan Marscher and colleagues report observations that appear to support these predictions (covered by the BBC, Scientific American, Reuters).

“We have gotten the clearest look yet at the innermost portion of the jet, where the particles actually are accelerated, and everything we see supports the idea that twisted, coiled magnetic fields are propelling the material outward,” says Marscher, a researcher at Boston University (press release). “This is a major advance in our understanding of a remarkable process that occurs throughout the Universe.”

The full story of this paper can be heard on this week’s Nature podcast, which also features part of Marscher’s song about blazars, one of a whole host of science songs he’s written.

Be warned though, Marscher says ‘Superluminal Lover’ is “a hot love song … with a Latin beat, that links activity in blazars with human passion … beware: it is beyond X-rated, it’s GAMMA–RATED!”

Image: artist’s conception of region near supermassive black hole / Marscher et al., Wolfgang Steffen, Cosmovision, NRAO/AUI/NSF