First Unbiased Census of Active Galactic Nuclei (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

First Unbiased Census of Active Galactic Nuclei

Caption

Swift's Hard X-ray Survey offers the first unbiased census of active galactic nuclei in decades. Dense clouds of dust and gas, illustrated here, can obscure less energetic radiation from an active galaxy's central black hole. However, high-energy X-rays easily pass through.

Credit

ESA/NASA/AVO/Paolo Padovani

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