Post on 17-Jan-2016
Watch This Space!
Monsters at WorkLiz PuchnarewiczMullard Space Science LaboratoryUniversity College London
Light comes in waves or packets
electromagnetic waves
photons
It all goes at the same speed
White light
No. of photons
energywavelength
spectrum
‘Hot’ light
No. of photons
energywavelength
spectrum
Hot light from stars
No. of photons
energywavelength
spectrum
Thick heatdense gas
slab
blackbody radiation
thick gasNo. of
photons
energywavelength
Quasar soft X-ray spectra
blackbody radiation
thick gas
No. of photons
energy
wavelength
soft X-raysEUVUV
Spectral lines
No. of photons
energywavelength
spectrum
Atomic line transitions
ground
ionized
Ly Ly
Emission line spectra
ground
ionized
Ly Ly
No. of photons
energywavelength
Cosmological distancesNo. of
photons
energywavelength
quasar
No. of photons
energywavelength
laboratory
X-ray spectra from space
The XMM-Newton observatory
Fluorescence
ground
ionized
Iron disks in X-rays
No. of photons
energywavelength
Quasar accretion disks
No. of photons
energywavelength
soft X-raysEUVUV
The disk in MCG-6-30-15
A very hot corona
No. of photons
energy
wavelength
soft X-rays
EUVUV hard X-rays
disk continuum
disk line
Electrons kick light into X-rays
Fast-moving electron
Inverse Compton scattering
A quasar
Thin heatthin gas
slab
bremsstrahlung radiation
thin gasNo. of
photons
energywavelength
Gamma-ray bursts
Ultimate devastation
The SWIFT mission
Scary monsters at work
Watch This Space!
Monsters at WorkLiz PuchnarewiczMullard Space Science LaboratoryUniversity College London