Photo Credit: Firefly Aerospace/NSF via YouTube Fermi detects gamma rays from active galaxies with spinning black hole disks Highlights Black holes fuel the universe’s brightest light sources AGN jets emit powerful gamma rays Fermi finds thousands of active galaxies Advertisement Some of the brightest lights in the universe shine from some of its darkest corners — so-called supermassive black holes. Invisible to the human eye, these high-energy powerhouses light up the cosmos with emissions that are detected by space telescopes. Thousands of such light sources have been discovered with NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which has been observing since 2008. These aren't just stars — they are active galactic nuclei (AGN) where large gravitational forces fling matter around black holes, creating intense radiation blasts all across the electromagnetic spectrum.Blazars and AGN Jets Reveal How Black Holes Shape and Light Up the UniverseAs per NASA's report ,observational data, black holes lurk at the centres of most galaxies and are hundreds of thousands to billions of times the mass of the sun. In AGN, gas and dust fall into an inward-spiralling disk. Second, the disks experience friction and magnetic forces that produce light from radio to gamma rays. About one in ten AGN produce powerful jets of particles that move at nearly the speed of light, and it's still a mystery to scientists how material so close to the event horizon is accelerated in the jets., the type of AGN observed depends on its orientation relative to Earth. Radio galaxies shoot their jets sideways, while blazars aim them nearly straight at us, making them appear especially bright in gamma rays. Fermi's sky surveys show that more than half of the thousands of gamma-ray sources it has recorded are blazars, giving researchers vital clues about the energetic mechanics behind these cosmic light shows.AGN are more than just bright; scientists are attracted to them for what they tell us about cosmic history. AGN existed in the early universe and were probably important in modulating galaxy evolution. Astrophysicists will use observations and analyses of the conditions directly around these black holes to learn more about the structure and history of the universe itself.The paradox is acute: black holes are famous for eating up all the light and matter they can latch onto, but they lie behind some of the most luminous phenomena seen in space. Through missions like Fermi, scientists are adjusting the picture of the universe, in which some of its darkest origins can sparkle the most. For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube. Further reading: Supermassive black holes, active galactic nuclei, AGN, gamma rays, blazars, black hole jets, space science, astrophysics, cosmic light sources Gadgets 360 Staff The resident bot. If you email me, a human will respond. More Related Stories