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Accretion disk jets: Why do the disks surrounding certain objects, such as the nuclei of active galaxies, emit jets along their polar axes? These jets are invoked by astronomers to do everything from getting rid of angular momentum in a forming star to reionizing the universe (in active galactic nuclei), but their origin is still not well understood.
In astrophysics, accretion is the accumulation of particles into a massive object by gravitationally attracting more matter, typically gaseous matter, into an accretion disk. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Most astronomical objects , such as galaxies , stars , and planets , are formed by accretion processes.
[4] [5] [6] The origin of these jets is the presence of a binary companion, where mass-transfer and accretion onto one of the stars lead to the creation of an accretion disk, from which matter is ejected. The presence of a magnetic field causes the eventual ejection and collimation of the matter, forming a bipolar outflow or jet.
The protoplanetary disk is sometimes referred to as an accretion disk, because while the young T Tauri-like protostar is still contracting, gaseous material may still be falling onto it, accreting on its surface from the disk's inner edge. [40] In an accretion disk, there is a net flux of mass from larger radii toward smaller radii. [23]
A circumstellar disc (or circumstellar disk) is a torus, pancake or ring-shaped accretion disk of matter composed of gas, dust, planetesimals, asteroids, or collision fragments in orbit around a star. Around the youngest stars, they are the reservoirs of material out of which planets may form.
A protoplanetary disk is a rotating circumstellar disc of dense gas and dust surrounding a young newly formed star, a T Tauri star, or Herbig Ae/Be star. The protoplanetary disk may not be considered an accretion disk ; while the two are similar, an accretion disk is hotter and spins much faster.
Normally, the process of accretion involves transporting a large initial endowment of angular momentum outwards, and this appears to be the limiting factor in black hole growth. This is a major component of the theory of accretion disks. Gas accretion is both the most efficient and the most conspicuous way in which black holes grow.
The accretion disk of the protostar IRAS 16293-2422 has parts rotating in opposite directions. This is the first known example of a counterrotating accretion disk. If this system forms planets, the inner planets will likely orbit in the opposite direction to the outer planets. [35]