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AsteriaStar
Black-hole process

Bondi Accretion

The idealised, spherically symmetric capture of surrounding gas by a compact object, worked out by Hermann Bondi in 1952. It sets a benchmark rate at which a black hole or neutron star can swallow the gas around it, and underlies estimates of how quiescent supermassive black holes such as Sgr A* are fed.

Highlights

  • The benchmark rate for swallowing surrounding gas

Knowledge connections

Sources

The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.

  • NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration

    Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.

    Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.