Black holes of very different mass seem to launch jets at the same feeding threshold
Curtin-led astronomers report that black holes differing in mass by millions of times appear to launch jets at the same stage of their feeding cycle. If the pattern holds, delayed radio flares after stellar disruptions could be timed from the feeding rate.
The Scientist · Science desk
What happened
- The study appears in Nature Astronomy and was led by Adelle Goodwin of Curtin University, with Andrew Mummery of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton as co-author.
- Some stars torn apart by supermassive black holes produce a jet almost at once, while other black holes stay quiet for months or years before a radio outflow appears.
- Goodwin said the delayed jets appeared when a black hole's feeding rate dropped to a critical point already known from much smaller black holes.
- The team combined observations from telescopes in Australia, the United States, India, South Africa and space.
Why it matters
- What's now possible capability If the threshold holds, the delayed radio outflows that follow a stellar disruption could be anticipated from the feeding rate, which is how the summary says the work could help predict outbursts.
- What it sets up precedent A matched threshold across such different masses would be a specific, checkable case of the long-held suspicion that black holes obey the same physics whatever their size.
- What doesn't add up contradiction ScienceDaily's headline calls it a universal rule, but the text hedges with appear, seem and looked like, so the claim is a pattern across observed events.
Time stood in the way. The feeding behavior of a supermassive black hole can change over thousands of years, so watching one complete cycle is nearly impossible [9]. The team went to tidal disruption events instead, in which a star passes too close to a supermassive black hole and is torn apart [10]. In our view the result is a comparison across separate events.
Goodwin and Mummery made the comparison in conversation. They were at a scientific conference in Madrid, in a bar, when they recognized that the established rule for how jets form around comparatively small black holes looked as if it held for supermassive ones too [11]. Astronomers have long suspected that black holes follow the same physical laws whatever their mass, but showing it has been difficult [4].
They started from a question about timing. "We were looking at these events and asking why the timing was so different," Goodwin said [12]. Of the answer, she said: "That was the moment we realized this was not just a quirk of one type of black hole, but it looked like a rule that applied across the Universe." [3]
As carried by ScienceDaily, the release does not state how many events were analysed, what the critical feeding rate is, or whether any jet was called before it appeared [14]. A forecast needs a threshold fixed in advance and a jet that then shows up on schedule.
In our view the delayed-jet match is worth taking seriously, and no test of the forecast is reported.
What to watch
- Whether the Nature Astronomy paper reports the event count and critical feeding rate that would show how tight the match is.
- A tidal disruption event where a jet is called in advance from its feeding rate and then detected on schedule.
- How the jets that appear almost immediately after a disruption fit the same rule.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives35
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Black holes that differ in mass by millions of times seem to follow the same fundamental pattern when producing enormous outflows of material.
- [2]
The discovery suggests black holes can activate their jets at the same critical stage of their feeding cycle, whether they weigh roughly 10 times as much as the Sun or millions of times more.
- [3]
"That was the moment we realized this was not just a quirk of one type of black hole, but it looked like a rule that applied across the Universe."
- [4]
Astronomers have long suspected that black holes operate according to the same underlying physical laws regardless of their mass, but demonstrating that connection has been difficult.
- [5]
The study, published in Nature Astronomy, was led by Dr. Adelle Goodwin of Curtin University's International Centre of Radio Astronomy Research, with Dr. Andrew Mummery of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton as co-author.
- [6]
When a supermassive black hole tears apart a star it sometimes produces a powerful jet almost immediately, and in other cases stays relatively quiet for months or even years before producing a detectable radio outflow.
- [7]
Goodwin said the delayed jets appeared when the black hole's feeding rate dropped to the same critical point already known from much smaller black holes.
- [8]
The scientists combined observations from telescopes in Australia, the United States, India, South Africa, and space to build a clearer picture of how black holes behave as they consume matter.
- [9]
The feeding behavior of a supermassive black hole can change over thousands of years, making it nearly impossible for astronomers to watch an entire cycle unfold.
- [10]
Goodwin and colleagues examined tidal disruption events, which occur when a star passes too close to a supermassive black hole and is torn apart by extreme gravitational forces.
- [11]
The key insight came in a bar in Madrid during a scientific conference, where Goodwin and Mummery recognized that the rule known to govern jet formation in relatively small black holes also seemed to apply to supermassive ones.
- [12]
"We were looking at these events and asking why the timing was so different," said Dr. Goodwin.
- [13]
ScienceDaily headlined the release "Astronomers discover a strange universal rule behind black hole eruptions".
- [14]
The release text as carried by ScienceDaily does not state how many tidal disruption events were analysed, what the critical feeding rate is, or whether any jet was predicted before it appeared.
- [15]
The summary says the discovery could explain why some black holes erupt years after devouring a star and help astronomers predict when these outbursts will happen.
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Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- sciencedaily.comAstronomers discover a strange universal rule behind black hole eruptions
1 article · October 16, 2026
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Topics
- Black HolesFollow
- Astrophysical jetsFollow
- Tidal Disruption EventsFollow
Entities
- Adelle GoodwinFollow
- International Centre of Radio Astronomy ResearchFollow
- Nature AstronomyFollow
- Institute for Advanced StudyFollow
- ScienceDailyFollow
- Andrew MummeryFollow
- Curtin UniversityFollow
- Eddington limitFollow