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Nature 441, 938 (22 June 2006) | doi:10.1038/441938a; Published online 21 June 2006

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Astrophysics: Magnetic accretion

Daniel Proga1

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Disks of hot gas drawn onto a central star or black hole are the best energy-producing machines in the Universe. So how do these accretion disks work? The answer, it seems, is blowing in their winds.

Astronomical objects that siphon off their energy from gravitational processes are the most powerful sources of electromagnetic radiation in the Universe. Of these, quasi-stellar radio sources (quasars), which can release as much power as several hundred galaxies, are perhaps the most spectacular example.

  1. Daniel Proga is in the Physics Department, University of Nevada Las Vegas, 4505 South Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-4002, USA.
    Email: dproga@physics.unlv.edu

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