Abstract
We review accretion mechanisms for powering the central engines of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and possible sources of fuel. Local sources, such as dense star clusters, require extreme set of parameters. Instead we argue that the interstellar matter in the main body of the host galaxy is channelled towards the centre and address the problem of angular momentum transport. Thin accretion disks are not a viable means of delivering fuel to luminous AGN on scales much larger than a parsec because of the long inflow time and effects of self-gravity. There are also serious obstacles to maintaining and regulating geometrically thick, hot accretion flows. We emphasize the role of non-axisymmetric perturbations of the gravitational potential on galactic scales and their triggers: galaxy interactions and internal self-gravitational instabilities. We outline a unified model for fuelling AGN, in which the inflow on large scales is driven by gravitational torques, and on small scales forms a mildly self-gravitating disk of clouds with inflow driven by magnetic torques or cloud–cloud collisions.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Telesco, C. M. A. Rev. Astr. Astrophys. 26, 343–376 (1988).
Balick, B. & Heckman, T. M. A. Rev. Astr. Astrophys. 20, 431–468 (1982).
Miller, J. S. (ed.) Astrophysics of Active Galaxies and Quasi-stellar Objects (University Science Books, Mill Valley, 1985).
Begelman, M. C., Blandford, R. D. & Rees, M. J. Rev. mod. Phys. 56, 255–351 (1984).
Terlevich, R. & Melnick, J. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 213, 814–856 (1985).
Hills, J. G. Nature 254, 295–298 (1975).
Frank, J. & Rees, M. J. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 176, 633–647 (1976).
Lightman, A. P. & Shapiro, S. L. Astrophys. J. 211, 244–262 (1977).
Frank, J. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 184, 87–99 (1978).
Duncan, M. J. & Shapiro, S. L. Astrophys. J. 268, 565–581 (1983).
Young, P. J., Shields, G. A. & Wheeler, J. C. Astrophys. J. 212, 367–382 (1977).
Norman, C. & Silk, J. Astrophys. J. 266, 502–515 (1983).
Gerhard, O. E. & Binney, J. J. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 216, 467–502 (1985).
Roos, N. Astr. Astrophys. 104, 218–228 (1981).
Begelman, M. C., Blandford, R. D. & Rees, M. J. Nature 287, 307–309 (1980).
Rees, M. J. Nature 333, 523–528 (1988).
Evans, C. R. & Kochanek, C. S. Astrophys. J. 346, L13–L16 (1989).
Cannizzo, J. K., Lee, H. M. & Goodman, J. in Theory of Accretion Disks (eds Meyer, F., Duschl, W., Frank, J. & Meyer-Hofmeister, E.) 397–401 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1989).
Benz, W. & Hills, J. G. Astrophys. J. 323, 614–628 (1987).
Edwards, A. C. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 190, 757–764 (1980).
Norman, C. & Scoville, N. Astrophys. J. 332, 124–134 (1988).
Shlosman, I. in Supermassive Black Holes (ed. Kafatos, M.) (Cambridge University Press, 1988).
Voit, G. M. & Shull, J. M. Astrophys. J. 331, 197–210 (1988).
Penston, M. V. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 233, 601–609 (1988).
Scoville, N. & Norman, C. Astrophys. J. 332, 163–171 (1988).
Tout, C. A., Eggleton, P. P., Fabian, A. C. & Pringle, J. E. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 238, 427–438 (1989).
Shlosman, I., Frank, J. & Begelman, M. C. Nature 338, 45–47 (1989).
Begelman, M. C. & Rees, M. J. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 185, 847–859 (1978).
Shapiro, S. L. & Teukolsky, S. A. Astrophys. J. 307, 575–592 (1986).
Rasio, F. A., Shapiro, S. L. & Teukolsky, S. A. Astrophys. J. 336, L63–L66 (1989).
David, L. P., Durisen, R. H. & Cohn, H. N. Astrophys. J. 316, 505–516 (1987).
Frank, J., King, A. R. & Raine, D. J. in Accretion Power in Astrophysics (Cambridge University Press, 1985).
Goldreich, P. & Lynden-Bell, D. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 130, 97–130 (1965).
Shlosman, I. & Begelman, M. C. Nature 329, 810–812 (1987).
Shlosman, I. & Begelman, M. C. Astrophys. J. 341, 685–691 (1989).
Sanders, D. B., Phinney, E. S., Neugebauer, G., Soifer, B. T. & Matthews, K. Astrophys. J. 347, 29–51 (1989).
Phinney, E. S. in Theory of Accretion Disks (eds Meyer, F., Duschl, W., Frank, J. & Meyer-Hofmeister, E.) 457–470 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1989).
Collin-Souffrin, S. & Dumont, A. M. Astr. Astrophys. 229, 292–301 (1990).
Shields, G. Nature 305, 407–409 (1983).
Paczynski, B. Acta astr. 28, 91–109 (1978).
Lin, D. N. C. & Pringle, J. E. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 225, 607–614 (1987).
Begelman, M. C., Frank, J. & Shlosman, I. in Theory of Accretion Disks (eds Meyer, F., Duschl, W., Frank, J. & Meyer-Hofmeister, E.) 373–386 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1989).
McCray, R. & Kafatos, M. Astrophys. J. 317, 190–196 (1987).
Dressler, A. & Richstone, D. O. Astrophys. J. 324, 701–713 (1988).
Kormendy, J. Astrophys. J. 325, 128–141 (1988).
Kormendy, J. Astrophys. J. 335, 40–56 (1988).
Pringle, J. E., Rees, M. J. & Pacholczyk, A. G. Astr. Astrophys. 29, 179–184 (1973).
Shapiro, S. L., Lightman, A. P. & Eardley, D. M. Astrophys. J. 204, 187–199 (1976).
Sarazin, C. L. Rev. mod. Phys. 58, 1–115 (1986).
Arnaud, K. A. in Cooling Flows in Clusters and Galaxies (ed. Fabian, A. C.) 31–40 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1988).
Canizares, C. R., Fabbiano, G. & Trinchieri, G. Astrophys. J. 312, 503–513 (1987).
Wang, Z. & Cowie, L. L. Astrophys. J. 335, 168–176 (1988).
Begelman, M. C. Astrophys. J. 297, 492–506 (1985).
Sarazin, C. L. & White, R. E. Astrophys. J. 331, 102–115 (1988).
Begelman, M. C. Nature 322, 614–615 (1986).
Fabian, A. C. & Canizares, C. R. Nature 333, 829–831 (1988).
Gunn, J. E. in Active Galactic Nuclei (eds Hazard, C. & Mitton, S.) 213–225 (Cambridge University Press, 1979).
Goldreich, P. & Tremaine, S. Icarus 34, 227–239 (1978).
Krolik, J. H. & Begelman, M. C. Astrophys. J. 329, 702–711 (1988).
Phinney, E. S. in Proc. 136th IAU Symp. (ed. Moris, M.) 545–555 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1989).
Toomre, A. & Toomre, J. Astrophys. J. 178, 623–666 (1972).
Larson, R. B. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 206, 197–207 (1984).
Blandford, R. D. & Payne, D. G. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 199, 883–903 (1982).
Lovelace, R. V. E., Mehanian, C., Mobarry, C. M. & Sulkanen, M. E. Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 62, 1–37 (1986).
Yusef-Zadeh, F. & Morris, M. Astrophys. J. 329, 729–738 (1988).
Blandford, R. D. In Theory of Accretion Disks (eds Meyer, F., Duschl, W., Frank, J. & Meyer-Hofmeister, E.) (Kluwer, Dordrecht, in the press).
Combes, F. & Sanders, R. H. Astr. Astrophys. 96, 164–173 (1981).
Byrd, G. G., Valtonen, M. J., Sundelius, B. & Valtaoja, L. Astr. Astrophys. 166, 75–82 (1986).
Noguchi, M. Astr. Astrophys. 203, 259–272 (1988).
Hernquist, L. & Quinn, P. J. in The Epoch of Galaxy Formation (eds Frenk, C. S. et al.) 427–428 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1989).
Combes, F. in Starbursts and Galaxy Evolution (eds Thuan, T. X. et al.) 313–318 (Editions Frontieres, Gif Sur Yvette, 1987).
Athanassoula, E. Phys. Rep. 114, 319–403 (1984).
Ostriker, J. P. & Peebles, P. J. E. Astrophys. J. 186, 467–480 (1973).
Kormendy, J. in Morphology and Dynamics of Galaxies (eds Martinet, L. & Mayor, M.) 115–288 (Geneva Observatory, Sauverny, 1982).
Matsuda, T., Inoue, M., Sawada, K., Shima, E. & Wakamatsu, K. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 229, 295–314 (1987).
Combes, F. in Galactic and Extragalactic Star Formation (eds Pudritz, R. E. & Fich, M.) 475–494 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1988).
Larson, R. B. & Tinsley, B. M. Astrophys. J. 219, 46–59 (1978).
Keel, W. C. Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 52, 229–239 (1983).
Kennicutt, R. C., Keel, W. C., van der Hulst, J. M., Hummel, E. & Roettiger, K. A. Astr. J. 93, 1011–1023 (1987).
Mirabel, I. F. & Sanders, D. B. Astrophys. J. 340, L53–L56 (1989).
Stein, W. A. Astr. J. 96, 1861–1863 (1988).
Thronson, H. A., Bally, J. & Hacking, P. Astr. J. (in the press).
Dahari, O. Astr. J. 89, 966–974 (1984).
Fuentes-Williams, T. & Stocke, J. T, Astr. J. 96, 1235–1247 (1988).
MacKenty, J. W. Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. (in the press).
Joseph, R. D. & Wright, G. S. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 214, 87–95 (1985).
Bushouse, H. A. Astrophys. J. 320, 49–72 (1987).
MacKenty, J. W. Astrophys. J. 343, 125–134 (1989).
Alladin, S. M. Astrophys. J. 141, 768–798 (1965).
Hernquist, L. Nature 340, 687–691 (1989).
Keel, W. C., Kennicutt, R. C. Jr, Hummel, E. & Van der Hulst, J. M. Astr. J. 90, 708–730 (1985).
Lin, D. N. C., Pringle, J. E. & Rees, M. J. Astrophys. J. 328, 103–110 (1988).
Lubow, S. H. Astrophys. J. 328, L3–L8 (1988).
Haynes, M. P., Giovanelli, R. & Chincarini, G. L. A. Rev. Astr. Astrophys. 22, 445–470 (1984).
Young, J. S. in Proc. 115th IAU Symp. (eds Peimbert, M. & Jugaku, J.) 557–586 (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1987).
Adams, T. F. Astrophys. J. Suppl., Ser. 33, 19–34 (1977).
Simkin, S., Su, H. & Schwarz, M. P. Astrophys. J. 237, 404–413 (1980).
Balzano, V. A. Astrophys. J. 268, 602–627 (1983).
Devereux, N. A. Astrophys. J. 323, 91–107 (1987).
Thronson, H. A. et al. Astrophys. J. 343, 158–168 (1989).
Hackwell, J. A. & Schweizer, F. Astrophys. J. 265, 643–647 (1983).
Scoville, N., Matthews, K., Carico, D. P. & Sanders, D. B. Astrophys. J. 327, L61–L64 (1988).
Auriemma, C. et al. Astr. Astrophys. 57, 41–50 (1977).
Davies, R. L., Efstathiou, G., Fall, S. M., Illingworth, G. & Schechter, P. L. Astrophys. J. 266, 41–57 (1983).
Heckman, T. M., Illingworth, G. D., Miley, G. K. & van Breugel, W. J. M. Astrophys. J. 299, 41–58 (1985).
Heckman, T. M. et al. Astrophys. J. 311, 526–547 (1986).
Smith, E. P. & Heckman, T. M. Astrophys. J. 341, 658–678 (1989).
Phillips, M. M., Jenkins, C. R., Dopita, M. A., Sadler, E. M. & Binette, L. Astr. J. 91, 1062–1085 (1986).
Simkin, S. & Sadler, E. M. in Proc. 134th IAU Symp. (ed. Osterbrock, D.) 184–185 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1989).
van Gorkom, J. H. et al. Astr. J. 97, 708–719 (1989).
Sadler, E. M. in Cooling Flows in Clusters and Galaxies (ed. Fabian, A. C.) 263–272 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1988).
Hutchings, J. B., Crampton, D. & Campbell, B. Astrophys. J. 280, 41–50 (1984).
Stockton, A. & MacKenty, J. W. Astrophys. J. 316, 584–596 (1987).
Hutchings, J. B. & Neff, S. G. Astr. J. 96, 1575–1580 (1988).
Smith, E. P., Heckman, T. M., Bothun, G. D., Romanishin, W. & Balick, B. Astrophys. J. 306, 64–89 (1986).
MacKenty, J. W. & Stockton, A. Astrophys. J. 283, 64–69 (1984).
Kawara, K., Nishida, M. & Gregory, B. Astrophys. J. 352, 433–447 (1990).
Miley, G. K., Neugebauer, G. & Soifer, B. T. Astrophys. J. 293, L11–L14 (1985).
Wilson, A. S. Astr. Astrophys. (in the press).
Edelson, R. A., Malkan, M. A. & Rieke, G. H. Astrophys. J. 321, 233–250 (1987).
Heckman, T. M., Beitz, L., Wilson, A. S., Armus, L. & Miley, G. K. Astrophys. J. 342, 735–758 (1989).
Sanders, D. B. et al. Astrophys. J. 325, 74–91 (1988).
Scoville, N. et al. Astrophys. J. 311, L47–L50 (1986).
Sanders, D. B., Scoville, N. Z., Sargent, A. I. & Soifer, B. T. Astrophys. J. 324, L55–L58 (1988).
Sofue, Y. in Molecular Clouds in the Milky Way & External Galaxies (eds Dickman, R. L. et al.) (Springer, Berlin, 1988).
Lo, K. Y. et al. Astrophys. J. 282, L59–L63 (1984).
Ball, R., Sargent, A. I., Scoville, N. Z., Lo, K. Y. & Scott, S. L. Astrophys. J. 298, L21–L25 (1987).
Weliachew, L., Casoli, F. & Combes, F. in Molecular Clouds in the Milky Way and External Galaxies (eds Dickman, R. L. et al.) 387–388 (Springer, Berlin, 1988).
Norman, C. in Galactic and Extragalactic Star Formation (eds Pudritz, R. E. & Fich, M.) 495–501 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1988).
Krolik, J. H. & Begelman, M. C. Astrophys. J. 308, L55–L58 (1986).
Antonucci, R. R. J. & Miller, J. S. Astrophys. J. 297, 621–632 (1985).
Boroson, T. A., Persson, S. E. & Oke, J. B. Astrophys. J. 293, 120–131 (1985).
Wilson, A. S., Ward, M. J. & Haniff, C. A. Astrophys. J. 334, 121–129 (1988).
Krolik, J. H. & Kallman, T. R. Astrophys. J. 320, L5–L8 (1987).
Krolik, J. H. in Proc. 134th IAU Symp. (ed. Osterbrock, D.) 285–292 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1989).
Krolik, J. H. & Lepp, S. Astrophys. J. 347, 179–185 (1989).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shlosman, I., Begelman, M. & Frank, J. The fuelling of active galactic nuclei. Nature 345, 679–686 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/345679a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/345679a0
This article is cited by
-
An increase in black hole activity in galaxies with kinematically misaligned gas
Nature Astronomy (2023)
-
Nuclear star clusters
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review (2020)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.