宇宙中幾乎每個大型星系的中心都存在著超大質量黑洞，它們透過吞噬周圍物質來生長，同時也會噴射出強大的能量噴流。這些噴流會加熱周圍的氣體，阻礙恆星的形成並影響整個星系的發展。然而，科學家一直困惑於為何黑洞在吹走作為其「燃料」的氣體後，仍能持續生長而不會耗盡能量。

為了填補這一謎團，研究人員提出假設：被加熱吹走的氣體最終會在星際空間冷卻，並凝結成被稱為「纖維狀結構」的細長氣體流，最後再次落回黑洞。近期，由蒙特婁大學領導的國際團隊利用韋伯太空望遠鏡觀察了半人馬座星系團的中心星系 NGC 4696，並首次直接證實了這些纖維狀結構與中心黑洞之間的聯繫。

觀測與模擬結果顯示，這些冷卻凝結的氣體會沿著纖維狀結構流入黑洞周圍由氣體組成的旋轉圓盤中，最終作為燃料供給黑洞，形成了一個完美的「宇宙回收系統」。此外，由於氣體從不同方向流入，氣體盤的旋轉軸會發生擺動，使能量噴流的方向隨之改變，進而均勻地加熱星系團中心區域，防止氣體過度冷卻。

Almost every large galaxy in the universe hosts a supermassive black hole at its center, which grows by consuming surrounding matter while simultaneously emitting powerful energy jets. These jets heat the nearby gas, delaying star formation and influencing the overall growth of the galaxy. However, this has created a puzzle for scientists as to why black holes do not run out of fuel and continue to grow, even after blowing away the very gas that feeds them.

To explain this mystery, researchers hypothesized that the gas blown away by the heat eventually cools in interstellar space, condensing into thin, thread-like structures called filaments that fall back toward the black hole. Recently, an international team led by researchers from the University of Montreal utilized the James Webb Space Telescope to observe the central galaxy NGC 4696 in the Centaurus Cluster, directly confirming the connection between these filaments and the central black hole for the first time.

Observations and computer simulations revealed that the condensed gas flows along these filaments directly into a rotating gas disk around the black hole, ultimately supplying it with fuel in a perfect "cosmic recycling system." Furthermore, because the filamentary gas flows in from multiple directions, the disk's axis wobbles, causing the energy jets to shift directions and heat the central region of the galaxy cluster more uniformly, which prevents the gas from cooling excessively.