TITLE: MEASURING THE ANGULAR MOMENTUM OF SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES
PUBLISHER: SPRINGER - LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LINK: http://is.gd/O3t8UU - RELEASE TYPE: RETAIL
FORMAT: PDF - RELEASE DATE: 2013/10/22
ISBN: 9781461477716 - STORE DATE: 2013
AUTHOR: LAURA BRENNEMAN - DISKS: 01
SAVED MONEY: 42 EURO

Measuring the spin distribution of supermassive black holes is of critical
importance for understanding how these black holes and their host galaxies
form and evolve over time, yet this type of study is only in its infancy
This brief describes how astronomers measure spin in supermassive black holes
using X-ray spectroscopy. It also reviews the constraints that have been
placed on the spin distribution in local, bright active galaxies over the past
six years, and the cosmological implications of these constraints. Finally
it summarizes the open questions that remain in this exciting new field of
research and points toward future discoveries soon to be made by the next
generation of space-based observatories