Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Oct 1987
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987natur.329..810s&link_type=abstract
Nature (ISSN 0028-0836), vol. 329, Oct. 29, 1987, p. 810-812. Research supported by Rockwell International Corp., Ball Corp., Al
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
53
Accretion Disks, Active Galactic Nuclei, Astronomical Models, Black Holes (Astronomy), Gravitational Effects, Emission Spectra, Infrared Radiation, Interstellar Matter, Line Spectra
Scientific paper
Accretion onto supermassive black holes (SBHs) is widely believed to be responsible for the phenomena of active galactic nuclei (AGN). It is not known whether the accretion flow is fuelled by mass loss from the dense cluster of stars surrounding the SBH, or enters the nucleus from the galactic interstellar medium. Here the authors adopt the latter view, assuming that most of the incoming fuel forms a thin accretion disk at distances of ≡10 - 103pc from the SBH. Such a disk must be vertically self-gravitating. They analyse some of its thermal and dynamical properties, and conclude that its energetics is likely to be dominated by backscattered AGN radiation. They also discuss the conditions under which Jeans fragmentation of such a disk into weakly interacting cloudlets can be avoided, and give a necessary condition for disk fragmentation to occur.
Begelman Mitchell C.
Shlosman Isaac
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