Almost all galaxies host in their center a supermassive black hole of mass between a million and tens of billions solar masses. Supermassive black holes grow in symbiosis with their host galaxies across the Hubble time, occasionally accreting surround matter, giving rise to an Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). This book gives a general review of our current knowledge of AGN, powered by supermassive black holes: how they are fueled by gas (or stars) and what problems are encountered; how can we account for the wide variety of AGN, from Seyfert/Liners to quasars, and for the two types (AGN 1 and 2) either through dust obscuration, and geometrical orientation arguments, or through intrinsic activity difference, qualitative or quantitative. With modern instruments, providing high resolution and sensitivity, like ALMA in radio, or MUSE at the ESO/VLT, it is possible to unveil the interstellar medium and stars in the circumnuclear regions, discover molecular disks and tori, in the sphere of influence of the black holes. While AGN are accreting matter, they are providing so much energy that part of the surrounding gas is expelled and is observed in molecular outflows, identified as the main feedback process of AGN on their host.\nKey Features: 
﻿ Reviews our current knowledge of AGN, with case studies and examples of observed AGN in their host galaxies. Discusses the long-standing problem of AGN fueling and feedback, and proposes educated models of the circum-nuclear regions, which are still difficult to resolve. Covers recent advances in the field of AGN research provided by current astronomical instrumentation (e.g., ALMA, VLT). Written by a world-leading expert in the field.

Active Galactic Nuclei: Fueling and Feedback (Programme: AAS-IOP Astronomy)

Science & Math

Combes, Françoise

Astronomy & Space Science

IOP Publishing Ltd.

The mystery of how the galaxies formed is a complex and intriguing subject, involving several different theories and an understanding of many different phenomena. Françoise Combes outlines the context in which the Big Bang and the expansion of the universe occurred and the first 'inhomogeneities' from which arose the early structures of the universe. The author describes how, contrary to our everyday experience, space and time appear to be intimately connected. In astronomy, a telescope is a time machine. We can look today at distant galaxies and, although we describe them in the present tense, we are really seeing them in their youthful stages, now long over. Having outlined the evolution and structure of galaxies, black holes are introduced. What do we know about their origins and growth at the centers of galaxies? The author describes how scientists can observe and draw conclusions about black holes. Scenarios of both "top down" and "bottom up" galaxy formation are discussed, together with the relationship between red and blue galaxies and dwarf, elliptical, and spheroidal galaxies. The problem of dark matter is then addressed, including its relationship to visible matter and to the structure of the universe on the grand scale, focusing on the success of the Cold Dark Matter model. The author concludes by reviewing problems that remain to be solved and the techniques that might begin to be used to solve these.

Mysteries Of Galaxy Formation (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy)

Praxis

Depuis les travaux d’Einstein sur la relativité générale au début du XXe siècle, nous savons que l’espace est en expansion ou en contraction. L’observation montre que les galaxies s’éloignent toutes les unes des autres à une vitesse proportionnelle à leur distance : c’est la loi d’expansion de Hubble. Comme d’autres, cette observation n’a fait que confirmer la théorie du « Big Bang », selon laquelle l’Univers a commencé dans un état extrêmement chaud et concentré : la nucléosynthèse primordiale. Grâce à la détection du fond cosmique, on a pu repérer que cet état, composé d’éléments légers comme l’hélium ou le deutérium, a connu d’infimes fluctuations de densité 400 000 ans après le Big Bang. Ce sont ces fluctuations qui ont donné naissance aux galaxies. Depuis 1998, nous savons que l’expansion de l’Univers s’accélère, à cause d’une mystérieuse énergie noire.Un surprenant voyage dans l’espace, et donc… dans le temps.

Le Big Bang

QUE SAIS JE

La matière noire, clé de l'Univers ?

DE BOECK SUP

Our knowledge of the Milky Way has been deeply renewed since a dozen years, following the results of the astrometric satellite HIPPARCOS, and those of large stellar surveys. Many concepts thought to be well established disappeared, to be replaced by others going towards a larger complexity: in particular, the discovery of radial migrations of stars has blurred the simple image that we had of the Galactic disk. There has been large progress in some domains, for instance the physics of the Galactic Center with its super-massive black hole; other problems remain unsolved, such as the nature of the dark matter existing like a halo around our Galaxy. This book reviews our present knowledge of the Milky Way, in the simplest and most didactic way as possible. Basic notions are always recalled, which make the book accessible to readers without any advanced formation in astronomy. This basic work will be very helpful to understand the results expected from GAIA, the new ESA astrometric satellite launched on December 19, 2013.

The Milky Way: Structure, Dynamics, Formation and Evolution (Current Natural Sciences)

Lequeux, James

EDP Sciences

This book contains the expanded lecture notes of the 32nd Saas-Fee Advanced Course. The three contributions present the central themes in modern research on the cold universe, ranging from cold objects at large distances to the physics of dust in cold clouds.

The Cold Universe: Saas-Fee Advanced Course 32, 2002. Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy

Draine, Bruce T.

Blain, Andrew W.

Springer

Unique in its breadth of coverage and level of presentation, this textbook provides more on the nature of galaxies, extragalactic objects, the large-scale structure of the Universe, and cosmology than is available in general textbooks on astronomy. It remains, however, accessible to advanced undergraduate students. One or more chapters are devoted to each of the following: the classification and morphology of galaxies; the galactic interstellar medium; galactic kinematics; elliptical, spiral, and barred spiral galaxies; the interactions between galaxies; extragalactic radio sources, quasars and their line spectra, and other active galactic nuclei; the formation of galaxies; the Universe as a whole; and cosmology.

Galaxies and Cosmology

Blanchard, Alain

Mazure, Alain

Boisse, Patrick

This book contains the expanded lecture notes of the 32nd Saas-Fee Advanced Course. The three contributions present the central themes in modern research on the cold universe, ranging from cold objects at large distances to the physics of dust in cold clouds.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Combes, Françoise. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Combes, Françoise

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Combes, Françoise. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Active Galactic Nuclei: Fueling and Feedback (Programme: AAS-IOP Astronomy)

Mysteries Of Galaxy Formation (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy)

Le Big Bang

La matière noire, clé de l'Univers ?

The Milky Way: Structure, Dynamics, Formation and Evolution (Current Natural Sciences)

The Cold Universe: Saas-Fee Advanced Course 32, 2002. Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy

Galaxies and Cosmology

The Cold Universe: Saas-Fee Advanced Course 32, 2002. Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy