The innermost environment of young supermassive black holes

物质是如何落入黑洞的？落入黑洞的物质是由什么构成的？它在消失之前离黑洞有多近？黑洞会旋转吗？我们生活在一个独特的时代，因为我们现在可以尝试根据观察来回答这些问题，而不仅仅是理论。x射线是从离黑洞最近的区域发射出来的，那里的温度和条件都是最极端的。通过研究被称为活动星系核的超大质量黑洞的x射线变异性和光谱特性，我们可以破译离黑洞最近的环境是什么样子的。提出的计划是在多年的过程中，在不同的时期用深x射线观测来观察活跃的星系。在短（如小时）和长（如月-年）的时间尺度上描述黑洞的行为将揭示它们的内在特性。

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, and not theory alone. 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 deep X-rays observations 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.