Abstract
Indian scientists have made significant contributions to the study of supermassive black holes (SMBH) and active galactic nuclei (AGN) through observational efforts, advanced data analysis, and theoretical modelling and simulations. Observational studies have been carried out using India’s own facilities’, such as AstroSat (India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory in UV and X-ray bands), the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), and optical/IR ground-based observatories as well as leading international observatories. This paper provides an overview of India’s contributions and outlines a vision for advancing future research in SMBH and AGN. It is an expanded and detailed version of the chapter on SMBH and AGN featured in the recently released Vision Document of the Astronomical Society of India.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agrawal P. C. 2017, J. Astrophys. Astron., 38, 27
Arcodia R., Merloni A., Nandra K. et al. 2021, Nature, 592, 704
Baghel J., Silpa S., Kharb P., Sebastian B., Shastri P. 2022, J. Astrophys. Astron., 43, 88
Barret D., Nandra K., Barcons X. et al. 2013, in SF2A-2013: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the French Society of Astronomy and Astrophysics (eds) Cambresy L., Martins F., Nuss E., Palacios A., p. 447
Beard M. W. J., McHardy I. M., Kumari K. et al. 2023, MNRAS, 519, 91
Cackett E. M., Bentz M. C., Kara E. 2021, iScience, 24, 102557
Cackett E. M., Horne K., Winkler H. 2007, MNRAS, 380, 669
Chakraborty J., Kara E., Masterson M. et al. 2021, ApJL, 921, L40
Colpi M., Holley-Bockelmann K., Bogdanovic T. et al. 2019, arXiv e-prints, arXiv:1903.06867
Croton D. J., Springel V., White S. D. M. et al. 2006, MNRAS, 365, 11
De Rosa A., Vignali C., Bogdanović T. et al. 2019, New Astron. Rev., 86, 101525
Dewangan G. C., Mathur S., Griffiths R. E., Rao A. R. 2008, ApJ, 689, 762
Dihingia I. K., Vaidya B., Fendt C. 2021, MNRAS, 505, 3596
Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Akiyama K., Alberdi A. et al. 2019, ApJL, 875, L1
Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Akiyama K., Alberdi A. et al. 2022, ApJL, 930, L12
Fabian A. C. 2012, ARA &A, 50, 455
Fabian A. C., Lohfink A., Kara E. et al. 2015, MNRAS, 451, 4375
Fabian A. C., Zoghbi A., Ross R. R. et al. 2009, Nature, 459, 540
Fan X., Strauss M. A., Schneider D. P. et al. 2003, AJ, 125, 1649
Ghisellini G., Tavecchio F. 2009, MNRAS, 397, 985
Ghosh S., Kharb P., Baghel J., Silpa S. 2023, ApJ, 958, 71
Girdhar A., Harrison C. M., Mainieri V. et al. 2022, MNRAS, 512, 1608
Giustini M., Miniutti G., Saxton R. D. 2020, A &A, 636, L2
Harrison C. M. 2017, Nat. Astron., 1, 0165
Hota A., Rey S.-C., Kang Y. et al. 2012, MNRAS, 422, L38
Hota A., Sirothia S. K., Ohyama Y. et al. 2011, MNRAS, 417, L36
Hota A., Dabhade P., Vaddi S. et al. 2022, MNRAS, 517, L86
Hung T., Gezari S., Blagorodnova N. et al. 2017, ApJ, 842, 29
IceCube Collaboration, Aartsen M. G., Ackermann M. et al. 2018, Science, 361, eaat1378
Jarvis M. E., Harrison C. M., Mainieri V. et al. 2021, MNRAS, 503, 1780
Kharb P., Lal D. V., Merritt D. 2017, Nat. Astron., 1, 727
Kharb P., Subramanian S., Das M., Vaddi S., Paragi Z. 2021, ApJ, 919, 108
Komossa S. 2003, in American Institute of Physics Conference Series, Vol. 686, The Astrophysics of Gravitational Wave Sources (ed) Centrella J. M., p. 161
Komossa S., Burwitz V., Hasinger G. et al. 2003, ApJL, 582, L15
Komossa S., Grupe D., Marziani P. et al. 2024, arXiv e-prints, arXiv:2408.00089
Kumar S., Dewangan G. C., Singh K. P. et al. 2023, ApJ, 950, 90
Kumari K., Dewangan G. C., Papadakis I. E., Singh K. P. 2024, MNRAS, 527, 5668
Kumari K., Dewangan G. C., Papadakis I. E. et al. 2023, MNRAS, 521, 4109
LaMassa S. M., Cales S., Moran E. C. et al. 2015, ApJ, 800, 144
Mallick L., Alston W. N., Parker M. L. et al. 2018, MNRAS, 479, 615
Mandal A., Mukherjee D., Federrath C. et al. 2021, MNRAS, 508, 4738
Matt G., Guainazzi M., Maiolino R. 2003, MNRAS, 342, 422
Miniutti G., Saxton R. D., Giustini M. et al. 2019, Nature, 573, 381
Morgan C. W., Kochanek C. S., Morgan N. D., Falco E. E. 2010, ApJ, 712, 1129
Mukherjee D., Bicknell G. V., Sutherland R., Wagner A. 2016, MNRAS, 461, 967
Mukherjee D., Bicknell G. V., Wagner A. Y. 2021, Astron. Nachr., 342, 1140
Mukherjee D., Wagner A. Y., Bicknell G. V. et al. 2018, MNRAS, 476, 80
Murthy S., Morganti R., Wagner A. Y. et al. 2022, Nat. Astron., 6, 488
Nandi S., Kharb P., Caproni A., Roy R., Sebastian B. 2024, ApJ, 965, 9
Nesvadba N. P. H., Boulanger F., Salomé P. et al. 2010, A &A, 521, A65
Nesvadba N. P. H., Wagner A. Y., Mukherjee D. et al. 2021, A &A, 654, A8
Noda H., Done C. 2018, MNRAS, 480, 3898
Pal M., Dewangan G. C., Connolly S. D., Misra R. 2017, MNRAS, 466, 1777
Pal M., Dewangan G. C., Misra R., Pawar P. K. 2016, MNRAS, 457, 875
Pal M., Kushwaha P., Dewangan G. C., Pawar P. K. 2020, ApJ, 890, 47
Pasham D. R., Lucchini M., Laskar T. et al. 2023, Nat. Astron., 7, 88
Patra N. N., Kanekar N., Chengalur J. N. et al. 2019, MNRAS, 483, 3007
Rao V. V., Kharb P., Rubinur K. et al. 2023, MNRAS, 524, 1615
Rees M. J. 1988, Nature, 333, 523
Ricci C., Bauer F. E., Arevalo P. et al. 2016, ApJ, 820, 5
Rodriguez C., Taylor G. B., Zavala R. T. et al. 2006, ApJ, 646, 49
Rubinur K., Das M., Kharb P. 2019, MNRAS, 484, 4933
Sabater J., Best P. N., Hardcastle M. J. et al. 2019, A &A, 622, A17
Schmidt M. 1963, Nature, 197, 1040
Shakura N. I., Sunyaev R. A. 1973, A &A, 500, 33
Shappee B. J., Prieto J. L., Grupe D. et al. 2014, ApJ, 788, 48
Silpa S., Kharb P., Harrison C. M. et al. 2021, MNRAS, 507, 991
Silpa S., Kharb P., Ho L. C., Harrison C. M. 2023, ApJ, 958, 47
Singh K. P., Garmire G. P., Nousek J. 1985, ApJ, 297, 633
Singh K. P., Tandon S. N., Agrawal P. C. et al. 2014, in Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series, Vol. 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray (eds) Takahashi T., den Herder J.-W. A., Bautz M., 91441S
Stathopoulos S. I., Petropoulou M., Giommi P. et al. 2021, MNRAS, 510, 4063
Tarafdar P., Nobleson K., Rana P. et al. 2022, PASA, 39, e053
Trakhtenbrot B., Arcavi I., MacLeod C. L. et al. 2019, ApJ, 883, 94
Tripathi P., Dewangan G. C. 2022, ApJ, 925, 101
Tripathi P., Dewangan G. C., Papadakis I. E., Singh K. P. 2021, ApJ, 915, 25
Uttley P., Cackett E. M., Fabian A. C., Kara E., Wilkins D. R. 2014, A &A Rev., 22, 72
Uttley P., Hartog R., d., Bambi C. et al. 2021, Exp. Astron., 51, 1081
van Velzen S., Gezari S., Cenko S. B. et al. 2019, ApJ, 872, 198
van Velzen S., Gezari S., Hammerstein E. et al. 2021, ApJ, 908, 4
Volonteri M. 2012, Science, 337, 544
Volonteri M., Habouzit M., Colpi M. 2021, Nat. Rev. Phys., 3, 732
Zovaro H. R. M., Sharp R., Nesvadba N. P. H. et al. 2019, MNRAS, 484, 3393
Acknowledgements
AH acknowledges the University Grants Commission (Ministry of Education, Government of India) for startup grant and monthly salary since June 2014.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is part of the Special Issue on “Indian Astronomy in the Global Context: A compendium of white papers submitted to the Astronomical Society of India Vision Document (2024)”.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Dewangan, G.C., Shukla, A., Chatterjee, R. et al. Supermassive black holes and active galactic nuclei. J Astrophys Astron 46, 60 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12036-025-10075-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12036-025-10075-7