Study Finds Active Galactic Nuclei Are Even More Powerful Than Thought

January 17, 2023 Eurasia Review

Powered by supermassive black holes swallowing matter in the centers of galaxies, active galactic nuclei are the most powerful compact



An artist’s impression of what the dust around an active galactic nucleus might look like seen from a light year away. CREDIT: Peter Z. Harrington

By Eurasia Review

Powered by supermassive black holes swallowing matter in the centers of galaxies, active galactic nuclei are the most powerful compact steady sources of energy in the universe. The brightest active galactic nuclei have long been known to far outshine the combined light of the billions of stars in their host galaxies.

A new study indicates that scientists have substantially underestimated the energy output of these objects by not recognizing the extent to which their light is dimmed by dust.

“When there are intervening small particles along our line of sight, this makes things behind them look dimmer. We see this at sunset on any clear day when the sun looks fainter,” said Martin Gaskell, a research associate in astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz.

Gaskell is lead author of a paper on the new findings published January 16 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Although the possibility of dust dimming the light from active galactic nuclei has been recognized for a long time, the amount was controversial and was widely believed to be negligible, he said. “We have shown that this is not the case and that the far ultraviolet light of a typical active galactic nucleus is dimmed by a large factor,” Gaskell said.

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