Related papers: Supermassive Black Holes in Active Galactic Nuclei
We first present a short overview of X-ray probes of the black hole region of active galaxies (AGN) and then concentrate on the X-ray search for supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in optically non-active galaxies. The first part focuses on…
Many theories for the formation of massive black holes in galactic nuclei predict that the stellar motions should be anisotropic within the radius of influence of the black hole. We report tentative evidence for such an effect in M87.
HST observations have revealed that compact sources exist at the centers of many, maybe even most, galaxies across the Hubble sequence. These sources are called "nuclei" or also "nuclear star clusters" (NCs), given that their structural…
Powerful radio galaxies at high redshift are highly useful in studies of early evolution of AGN-hosting galaxies because their observed optical and near infrared light are dominated by their stellar population rather than the nonthermal…
Emission-line variability data for Seyfert 1 galaxies provide strong evidence for the existence of supermassive black holes in the nuclei of these galaxies, and that the line-emitting gas is moving in the gravitational potential of that…
I briefly review advances in the understanding and modeling of relativistic stellar dynamics around massive black holes (MBHs) in galactic nuclei, following the inclusion of coherent relaxation and of secular processes in a new formal…
Different types of observations, together with consistent and physical modelizations, suggest as realistic the hypothesis of enrichement of galactic nuclei by mean of massive globular clusters orbitally decayed and merged in the inner…
Galactic outflows can be powered either by nuclear starbursts (SB) or active galactic nuclei (AGN). It has been argued that extreme starbursts can power extreme outflows, without the need to invoke AGN feedback. However, contributions from…
This White Paper to the National Academy of Sciences Astro2010 Decadal Review Committee outlines some of the outstanding questions regarding the assembly history of Massive Black Holes in the nuclei of galaxies and the revolutionary…
Recent years have seen tremendous progress in the quest to detect supermassive black holes in the centers of nearby galaxies, and gas-dynamical measurements of the central masses of active galaxies have been valuable contributions to the…
We study galaxies that host both nuclear star clusters and active galactic nuclei (AGN) implying the presence of a massive black hole. We select a sample of 176 galaxies with previously detected nuclear star clusters that range from…
The last decade has witnessed significant progress in our understanding of the growth of super-massive black holes (SMBHs). It is now clear that an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN: the observed manifestation of a growing SMBH) is an "event"…
I present an elementary primer of black hole physics, including its general relativity basis, all peppered with astrophysical illustrations. Following a brief review of the process stellar collapse to a black hole, I discuss the…
Supermassive black holes are prevalent at the centers of massive galaxies, and their masses scale with galaxy properties, increasing evidence suggesting that these trends continue to low stellar masses. Seeds are needed for supermassive…
This review presents the main points of current advances in the field of active galactic nuclei (AGN). A brief historical excursion about the search for the nature of AGN is given. The problem of close binary systems consisting of…
Could there be intermediate mass black holes in essentially all old dwarf galaxies? I argue that current observations of Active Galactic Nuclei in dwarfs allow such a radical hypothesis which provides early feedback and potentially provides…
We explore here an scenario for massive black hole formation driven by stellar collisions in galactic nuclei, proposing a new formation regime of global instability in nuclear stellar clusters triggered by runaway stellar collisions. Using…
Galaxy-scale outflows powered by actively accreting supermassive black holes are routinely detected, and they have been associated both with suppression and triggering of star formation. Recent observational evidence and simulations are…
While until recently they were often considered as exotic objects of dubious existence, in the last decades there have been overwhelming observational evidences for the presence of stellar mass black holes in binary systems, supermassive…
We review the motivation and search for supermassive black holes (BHs) in galaxies. Energetic nuclear activity provides indirect but compelling evidence for BH engines. Ground-based dynamical searches for central dark objects are reviewed…