Unveiling the Mysterious Feeding Habits of Supermassive Black Holes

Astronomers have made a groundbreaking observation of a nearby active galactic nucleus using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), capturing gas flows and structures in the immediate vicinity of a supermassive black hole on sub-parsec scales. The study reveals the accretion flow towards the black hole, driven by gravitational instability, and the expulsion of most of the gas as atomic or molecular outflows. These outflows eventually return to the gas disk, completing a gas recycling process. The findings provide crucial insights into the growth mechanisms of supermassive black holes.