When a quasar is oriented so that it points directly at the Earth, it is called a blazar. A team at Boston University has focused on the study of these blazars and announced some intriguing findings last week.

The question the team tried to address was why these entities form as a jet, as opposed to say just exploding or radiating in all directions. The solution, it turns out, is similar to the exhaust from jet engines. Instead of being focused by the mechanical structure of the jet engine, the blazar output is focused into jets by the spiraling magnetic field generated from the black hole. It is this process that causes the matter to be cast away from the black hole, as opposed to being sucked in by the intense gravitation.

Related Articles:

• Boston University Institute for Astrophysical Research - Blazar Research at Boston University
• Nature - Blazars: model behaviour
• Science - Follow That Cosmic Jet
• Scientific American - Black Hole Plasma Jet Spotted Tracing Corkscrew Path