The leading theory of what a corona is suggests it begins as gas slides into the black hole and is then heated to millions of degrees. At such extreme temperatures, electrons are separated from atoms, forming a magnetized plasma.
Caught by the black hole’s powerful spin, the magnetic field curves so high above the black hole and spins around so much that it eventually bends completely.
“This magnetic field binds and then gets close to the black hole, heating everything around it and producing these high-energy electrons, which then go on to produce X-rays,” Wilkins said.
–
