Infalling material

Definition

Infalling material refers to matter that is being pulled towards and ultimately accreted by a massive object, such as a supermassive black hole. This process often results in the emission of significant amounts of energy.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Infalling material forms an accretion disk around supermassive black holes, where it heats up and emits radiation.
2. The energy produced by infalling material can power quasars, making them some of the brightest objects in the universe.
3. As material falls into a black hole, it loses gravitational potential energy, which is converted into heat and light.
4. Observations of infalling material provide valuable information about the properties and behavior of black holes.
5. Jets of high-energy particles can be ejected from the poles of an accretion disk due to the interaction of magnetic fields with infalling material.

Review Questions

• What role does infalling material play in the formation and activity of quasars?
• How does infalling material contribute to the emission of radiation in an accretion disk?
• Why are observations of infalling material important for understanding supermassive black holes?

Related terms

Accretion Disk:

A rotating disk of gas and dust formed by material falling into a massive object like a black hole.

Quasar:

An extremely luminous active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole accreting matter.

Supermassive Black Hole:

A type of black hole with millions to billions times the mass of our sun, found at the centers of galaxies.