X-Ray and Optical Studies of Blazars

Abstract

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are small regions in centers of some galaxies which emit powerful electromagnetic radiation, often outshining stars, gas, and dust which make up the host galaxy. These are the brightest non-transient objects in the Universe with bolometric luminosity between 1040 and 1048 erg s−1. The released energy makes AGN visible from cosmological distances. The need to explain the very high rates of energy generation, requiring super-massive black holes (SMBHs)as power sources, jets of relativistic particles blasting out of nu- cleus of the galaxies and exotic particle−radiation interactions are clear challenges for the application of laws of physics. Thus, AGNs are the special laboratories for extreme physics which we would like to understand. They are also our key probes of the Universe on large scales, so their study is essential to understand the formation and evolution of the Universe.