Cool Dust around an Active Black Hole

This amazing illustration shows the thick ring of dust that can obscure the energetic processes, that occur near the supermassive black hole, of an active galactic nuclei.

Researchers at the University of Texas San Antonio, using observations from NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), found that the dust surrounding active, ravenous black holes is much more compact than previously thought.

Image credit NASA/SOFIA/Lynette Cook

source NASA