Black hole jets measured

A major breakthrough in astrophysics was announced on Thursday as researchers successfully tracked the 'dancing' jets of a black hole in the Cygnus 1-X system.

Using a global network of radio telescopes, the team measured the jet speed at approximately 540 million km/h—roughly half the speed of light.

Previous measurements had to be averaged over tens of thousands of years, but this new data provides a real-time look at one of the universe's most energetic phenomena.

The findings offer new insights into how black holes shape the growth and evolution of their host galaxies.