First proof that “plunging regions” exist around black holes in space

The new findings are part of wide-ranging investigations into outstanding mysteries around black holes by astrophysicists at Oxford University Physics. Instead they rapidly “plunge” toward the black hole at close to the speed of light. The Oxford study assessed this region in depth for the first-time, using X-ray data to gain a better understanding of the force generated by black holes. As with the small black holes, large black holes are expected to have a so-called “event horizon”, dragging material from space toward their centre in a spiral as the black hole rotates. The study “Continuum emission from within the plunging region of black hole discs” has been published in Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society.