the innermost environment of young supermassive black holes

物质是如何落入黑洞的？落入黑洞的物质是什么？在它消失之前，它离黑洞有多近？黑洞会自转吗？我们生活在一个独特的时代，因为我们现在可以尝试基于观察而不是理论来回答这样的问题。X射线从最接近黑洞的区域发射，那里的温度和条件最极端。通过研究被称为活动星系核的超大质量黑洞的X射线可变性和光谱特性，我们可以破译离黑洞最近的环境是什么样子。拟议的计划是在几年的过程中，在不同的时期用X射线望远镜观测活动星系。刻画黑洞在短(如小时)和长(如月-年)时间尺度上的行为将揭示它们的内在属性。

How does material fall into a black hole? What is the material falling into a black hole made of? How close does it get to the black hole before it disappears? Do black holes spin? We live in a unique era in that we can now attempt to answer such questions based on observations, not theory. X-rays are emitted from the regions closest to black holes, where temperatures and conditions are most extreme. By studying the X-ray variability and spectral properties of supermassive black holes, known as active galactic nuclei, we can decipher what the environment nearest the black hole looks like. The proposed plan is to observe active galaxies with X-ray telescope at various epochs over the course of years. Characterising the behaviour of the black holes on short (e.g hourly) and long (e.g. month-years) time scales will reveal their intrinsic properties.