New Delhi, April 18 -- For the first time, scientists have measured the instantaneous mind-blowing power of jets blasting from a black hole.

The jet power from this relatively close black hole-star system is equivalent to 10,000 suns, an international research team reported Thursday. They also tracked the jet speed: roughly 355 million mph (540 million kph) - half the speed of light.

Located 7,200 light-years away, Cygnus X-1 features not only a black hole - the first one ever identified more than a half-century ago - but a blue supergiant star, its constant companion. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).

The University of Oxford's Steve Prabu and his team based their findings on 18 years of high-resolutio...