JWST reveals the self-sustaining feeding cycle of a supermassive black hole
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers map gas flows in the central galaxy NGC 4696 of the Centaurus Cluster, finding a hook-shaped gas swirl connected to a vast filament that feeds the black hole by forming a swirling accretion disk. The observations support a self-regulating cycle where jets heat surrounding gas and later cooling gas returns as filaments to fuel renewed growth, potentially explaining how supermassive black holes grow rapidly in the early universe and influence star formation in their galaxies.