Fastest wind observed around black hole This artist's impression publicized by NASA on Feb. 21, 2012 shows a binary system containing ...

Fastest wind observed around black hole

This artist's impression publicized by NASA on Feb. 21, 2012 shows a binary system containing a stellar-mass black hole called IGR J17091-3624, or IGR J17091 for short. The strong gravity of the black hole (L), pulls gas away from a companion star on the right. This gas forms a disk of hot gas around the black hole, and the wind is driven off this disk.(Xinhua/NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)

BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Scientists recently clocked the fastest ever observed wind blowing off the disk around a stellar-mass black hole, according to media report on Tuesday.

Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists spotted the particle wind, which was calculated moving at a record-breaking speed of 32 million kilometer per hour, or about 3 percent the speed of light.

The black hole, known as IGR J17091, was found in the central Milky Way galaxy, about 28,000 light-years from the Earth.

"It's a surprise this small black hole is able to muster the wind speeds we typically only see in the giant black holes. It's performing well above its weight class." said co-author Jon Miller, from the University of Michigan.

Scientists suggested that the strong magnetic fields around the black holes may be responsible for such a high speed.

The observation has important implications for better understanding how this type of black hole behaves, scientists said.

(Agencies)