Accretion Disks

Matter spiraling onto compact objects, heated by friction into the brightest engines in the sky.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Viscous friction heats infalling gas to millions of degrees, shining in X-rays.
• Quasars are accretion disks around supermassive black holes outshining their host galaxies.
• The Event Horizon Telescope’s M87 image shows a glowing ring of accretion around the shadow.