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？ 它离黑洞有多近才会消失？ 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射线是从最接近黑洞的区域发射出来的，那里的温度和条件都是最极端的。 通过研究超大质量黑洞（称为活动星系核）的X射线变化和光谱特性，我们可以破译最接近黑洞的环境是什么样子。 拟议的计划是在数年的时间里，在不同的时期用深X射线观测来观测活动星系。 描述黑洞在短时间（例如小时）和长时间（例如月-年）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, 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.