![]() ![]() Using this approach, astronomers using the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, have made the first detection ever of two near-infrared emission lines in the accretion disk of the galaxy III Zw 002, placing a new limit on the size of these magnificent structures. Instead, astronomers use the spectra of light emitted from within the disk to characterize its size and behavior. Most accretion disks, however, are impossible to directly image because of their extreme distances and relatively small sizes. Studying accretion disks can enhance astronomers’ understanding of black holes and the evolution of their host galaxies. Orbiting these incomprehensibly dense objects are swirling accretion disks of gas and dust, which feed the black hole and emit copious amounts of energy all along the electromagnetic spectrum - from high-energy gamma rays and X-rays, through visible light, to infrared and radio waves. But in fact the center of many galaxies is a turbulent environment containing an actively feeding supermassive black hole. At first glance, these sublime structures may appear rather serene. Nothing can evoke an existential perspective-spiral quite like looking at an image of a galaxy. Using two rare and peculiar near-infrared emission lines, these observations place firm limits on the size of the galaxy’s accretion disk and shed new light on its geometry and behavior. Using the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, astronomers have detected for the first time evidence of the presence of an accretion disk within the active galactic nucleus of galaxy III Zw 002. Marenfeld/NOIRLab/AURA/NSF.įirst observations ever of the outskirts of a supermassive black hole’s accretion disk expand astronomers’ understanding of these fascinating structures. From The NSF NOIRLab NOAO Gemini Observatory ![]()
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