#AthenaNuggets: X-ray Echoes From Accreting Black Holes

by Giovanni Miniutti, Phil Uttley and Erin Kara

The geometry of the disc and the corona of the Active Galactic Nuclei imprints several distinct physical signatures in their X-ray emission. Thanks to several new techniques to study the corona and reprocessed disc X-ray radiation in different energy bands, the astronomers are starting to unveil the mysterious vicinity of the super massive black holes powering the brightest Active Galactic Nuclei, as described in AthenaNuggets #34.

With Athena, these and other newer techniques will be applied to large samples of fainter sources to get an accurate overall view of the innermost regions of these fascinating objects.