Active Galactic Nuclei

CELLONE S. A.

Compact Objects and their Emission

Asociación Argentina de Astronomía - Book Series

Lugar: La Plata; Año: 2009; p. 199 - 208

A short introduction to active galactic nuclei (AGN) phenomenology and basicphysical facts is given. It starts with the early history of AGN, leading tothe presently accepted standard model, based on accretion of matter onto asupermassive black hole as the energy source in these objects. Unificationof the different AGN classes within this picture is also presented. Finally,observational techniques aimed at resolving the inner regions of AGN arebriefly reviewed.