The characteristic blue spectra of accretion disks in quasars as uncovered in the infrared

Makoto Kishimoto (), Robert Antonucci, Omer Blaes, Andy Lawrence, Catherine Boisson, Marcus Albrecht and Christian Leipski
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Makoto Kishimoto: Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
Robert Antonucci: University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
Omer Blaes: University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
Andy Lawrence: Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
Catherine Boisson: LUTH, FRE 2462 du CNRS, associée à l'Université Denis Diderot, Observatoire de Paris, Section de Meudon, F–92195 Meudon Cedex, France
Marcus Albrecht: Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avenida Angamos 0610, Antofagasta 1270709, Chile
Christian Leipski: University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA

Nature, 2008, vol. 454, issue 7203, 492-494

Abstract: Active galactic nuclei: Into the blue The primary power source in most active galactic nuclei is thought to be a supermassive black hole. The problem, for astronomers, is that the black hole is postulated to be accreting surrounding gas through an accretion disk, and observations so far have not corroborated the model. In particular, the 'standard disk' model predicts a specific blue spectral shape from the visible to near-infrared, which had not shown up in the spectra. Kishimoto et al. now report observations of polarized light interior to the dust-emitting region of several quasars that reveal the characteristic blue spectrum of an accretion disk in the near-infrared. This indicates that, at least in the outer near-infrared emitting radii, the standard picture of the locally heated disk is approximately correct.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07114

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