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An overview of active galaxies
An overview of active galaxies

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An overview of active galaxies

6 The key questions

Some of the most important issues which astronomers working in this field are currently trying to resolve are:

  • How and when did the supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies form?

  • What role did the central black holes play in the formation of galaxies?

  • To what extent are the observed differences between AGN attributable to the orientation at which we view them?

  • What governs the evolution of individual AGN, and of the Universe's population of AGN?

  • Is there a link between AGN and star formation?

These points are covered in more detail in Block 4 of the Open University course, S381 The Energetic Universe, from which this course is taken.

S381_1
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