Polarizing filter allows astronomers to see disks surrounding black holes

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A polarizing filter attached to a telescope suppresses the light emitted by dust particles and ionized gas clouds around the quasar so its true electromagnetic spectrum can be revealed. Image: Makoto Kishimoto with cloud image by Schartmann
A polarizing filter attached to a telescope suppresses the light emitted by dust particles and ionized gas clouds around the quasar so its true electromagnetic spectrum can be revealed. Image: Makoto Kishimoto, with cloud image by Schartmann
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, a team of international researchers has found a way to view the accretion disks surrounding black holes and verify that their true electromagnetic spectra match what astronomers have long predicted they would be. Their work will be published in the July 24 issue of the science journal Nature.


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