Visualization of a black hole with an orange accretion disk. The parts of the disk circling over and under the hole are actually gravitationally lensed from the back side of the black hole.[126][127]

Brighter than galaxies

Matter spirals into accretion disks, heats to X‑ray‑hot plasma, and blazes. Some systems outshine their entire galaxy.

Black Holes: Accretion and Jets—Nature’s Brightest Engines

Since particles in a black hole's accretion disk must orbit at or outside the ISCO, astronomers can observe the properties of accretion disks to determine black hole spins.[142]

Extreme efficiency

As gas falls inward, up to 42% of its mass converts to energy before it plunges past the last stable orbit.

Black Holes: Accretion and Jets—Nature’s Brightest Engines

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