At Penn State researchers are looking into the hearts of Active Galactic Nuclei that are thought to contain supermassive black holes. These supermassive black holes are thought to have formed from the accretion of matter onto a black hole or from the merger of star-sized black holes. Through the use of the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other X-ray satellites researchers look for X-rays emitted by the accretion disks and coronae that surround the black holes. Jets and winds can be found in active galactic nuclei and emit X-rays which can be studied.
By using the information from the jets and winds as well as from the X-ray emission from the accretion disks and coronae one can then figure out the structural aspects of active galactic nuclei.

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• Active Galactic Nuclei Page