Quasars research
04 April 2008
Quasars quash star formation in active galactic nuclei
An ambitious study of active and inactive galaxies has given new insights into the complex interaction between super-massive black holes at the heart of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and star formation in the surrounding galaxy.
Paul Westoby, Dr Carole Mundell and Dr Ivan Baldry, from LJMU's Astrophysics Research Institute, studied the light properties of 360,000 galaxies in the local Universe in an attempt to understand the relationship between accreting black holes, the birth of stars in galaxy centres and the evolution of the galaxies as a whole.
The research was presented by Westoby at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast on 4 April.
To find out more about the research, visit: http://nam2008.qub.ac.uk/press/2008-20-release/
- Pictured: Multicolour SDSS optical images of NGC5806, nearby spiral galaxies with active nuclei similar to those being studied by Westoby and his collaborators. Image credit: The Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
