Abstract
The possible presence of massive black holes in the nuclei of galaxies has been suggested many times. In addition, there is considerable observational evidence for high stellar densities in these nuclei. I show that the tidal breakup of stars passing within the Roche limit of a black hole initiates a chain of events that may explain many of the observed principal characteristics of QSOs and the nuclei of Seyfert galaxies.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Mashhoon, B., Astrophys. J., 185, 83 (1973).
Osterbrock, D. E. Nuclei of Galaxies (edit. by O'Connell, D. J. K.) (American Elsevier, 1971).
Pringle, J. E., Rees, M. J., and Pacholczyk, A. G., Astr. Astrophys., 29, 179 (1973).
Lynden-Bell, D., Nature, 223, 690 (1969).
Barden, J. M., Nature, 226, 64 (1970).
Eddington, A. S., Z. Phys., 7, 351 (1921).
Schmidt, M. Nuclei of Galaxies (edit. by O'Connell. D. J. K.) (American Elsevier, 1971).
Kinman, T. D., Astrophys. J., 142, 1376 (1965).
Becklin, E. E., and Nuegebauer, G. K., Astrophys. J., 151, 145 (1968).
Schwarzschild, M., Astrophys. J., 182, 357, (1973).
Peebles, P. J. E., Astrophys. J., 178, 371 (1972).
Ogorodnikov, K. F., Dynamics of Stellar Systems, 116 (Pergamon, 1965).
Hills, J. G., Astr. Astrophys., 28, 63 (1973).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hills, J. Possible power source of Seyfert galaxies and QSOs. Nature 254, 295–298 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/254295a0
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/254295a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Stream–disk shocks as the origins of peak light in tidal disruption events
Nature (2024)
-
Computational methods for collisional stellar systems
Living Reviews in Computational Astrophysics (2023)
-
Searching for ultra-light bosons and constraining black hole spin distributions with stellar tidal disruption events
Nature Communications (2022)
-
A concordance scenario for the observed neutrino from a tidal disruption event
Nature Astronomy (2021)
-
The Physics of Accretion Discs, Winds and Jets in Tidal Disruption Events
Space Science Reviews (2021)