Related papers: Why Do AGN Lighthouses Switch Off?
The black hole in our Galactic Center is extremely underluminous for the amount of hot gas available for accretion. Theoretical understanding of this fact rests on a likely but not entirely certain assumption that the electrons in the…
We report preliminary results from an arcsecond-resolution X-ray survey of nearby galaxies using ACIS on board Chandra. The total sample consists of 41 low-luminosity AGNs, including Seyferts, LINERs, and LINER/H II transition objects. In…
We investigate radiatively inefficient accretion flow models for Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole in our Galactic Center, in light of new observational constraints. Confirmation of linear polarization in the submm emission argues for…
Steady accretion of a radiating gas onto a central mass point is described and compared to classic Bondi accretion. Radiation losses are essential for accretion flows to be observed. Unlike Bondi flows, radiating Bondi flows pass through a…
The 4 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S) and other deep X-ray surveys have been highly effective at selecting active galactic nuclei (AGN). However, cosmologically distant low-luminosity AGN (LLAGN) have remained a challenge to identify…
Deep X-ray surveys are providing crucial information on the evolution of AGN and galaxies. We review some of the latest results based on the X-ray spectral analysis of the sources detected in the Chandra Deep Field South, namely: i)…
The low-mass end of the supermassive black hole mass function is unknown and difficult to determine. Here we discuss our successful program to find active nuclei of late type "normal" galaxies using X-ray detections and multiwavelength…
The luminosities of the centers of nearby elliptical galaxies are very low compared to models of thin disc accretion to their black holes at the Bondi rate, typically a few hundredths to a few tenths of a solar mass per year. This has…
A hyperaccretion flow around a stellar mass black hole is thought to be the most plausible engine that powers gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The flow efficiently cools via neutrino emission at >~ 0.003-0.01 M_sun s^{-1} (corresponding to a…
We present numerical simulations of stellar wind dynamics in the central parsec of the Galactic centre, studying in particular the accretion of gas on to Sgr A*, the super-massive black hole. Unlike our previous work, here we use…
A supermassive black hole in the nucleus of an elliptical galaxy at the centre of a cool-core group or cluster of galaxies is immersed in hot gas. Bondi accretion should occur at a rate determined by the properties of the gas at the Bondi…
Only a small fraction of local galaxies harbor an accreting black hole, classified as an active galactic nucleus (AGN). However, many stellar systems are plausibly expected to host black holes, from globular clusters to nuclear star…
Compact objects are expected to exist in the accretion disks of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and in the presence of such a dense environment ($\sim 10^{14}\,{\rm cm^{-3}}$), they will form a new kind of…
Disks of gas accreting onto supermassive black holes are thought to power active galactic nuclei (AGN). Stars may form in gravitationally unstable regions of these disks, or may be captured from nuclear star clusters. Because of the dense…
The nuclear regions of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) likely host clumpy clouds that occasionally obscure the central X-ray source, causing eclipse events. These events offer a unique opportunity to study the properties and origins of such…
The Galactic Center black hole Sgr A* is the archetypical example of an underfed massive black hole. The extremely low accretion rate can be understood in radiatively inefficient accretion flow models. Testing those models has proven to be…
Most large elliptical galaxies should now host a massive black hole leftover from an earlier quasar phase. Such galaxies also have an extensive hot gaseous halo. Here we consider why the nuclei of elliptical galaxies are not luminous…
Context: Variations in the mass accretion rate appear to be responsible for the rapid transitions in spectral type that are observed in increasingly more active galactic nuclei (AGNs). These objects are now labeled "changing-look" AGNs and…
The unmatched X-ray resolution of Chandra allows probing the gas flow near quiescent supermassive black holes (BHs). The radius of BH gravitational influence on gas, called the Bondi radius, is resolved in Sgr A* and NGC 3115. Shallow…
Precise mechanisms by which Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) receive their gaseous fuel is still a mystery. Here I draw attention to the extra ordinary star formation event that took place in the central ~ 0.5 parsec of our Galaxy. The most…