Astrophysics “lunch” talk — note date and time!

The Regulation of Black Hole Winds and Jets Across the Mass Scale

Abstract:
Mechanical power in black holes of all masses is generated by both winds and jets.  With Chandra grating spectra, we characterize outflows and find that the kinetic power of the winds scales with increasing bolometric luminosity, suggesting that supermassive black holes may be more efficient than stellar-mass black holes in launching winds.  We also examine jet production, estimating the power required to inflate local bubbles.  Consistency between wind and jet scaling relations suggests that a common launching mechanism may drive both flows.  High-velocity outflows resemble jets more than the winds, suggesting that there is a regime in which winds become jets, with jet power dominant at low Eddington fractions, and winds dominant at high fractions.
 

Host: Mike Nowak