Watch This Space! Monsters at Work Liz Puchnarewicz Mullard Space Science Laboratory University College London

Light comes in waves or packets electromagnetic waves photons

It all goes at the same speed

White light No. of photons energy wavelength spectrum

‘Hot’ light No. of photons energy wavelength spectrum

Hot light from stars No. of photons energy wavelength spectrum

Thick heat dense gas slab blackbody radiation thick gas No. of photons energy wavelength

Quasar soft X-ray spectra blackbody radiation thick gas No. of photons energy wavelength soft X-raysEUVUV

Spectral lines No. of photons energy wavelength spectrum

Atomic line transitions ground  ionized    Ly  Ly 

Emission line spectra ground  ionized    Ly  Ly  No. of photons energy wavelength

Cosmological distances No. of photons energy wavelength quasar No. of photons energy wavelength laboratory

X-ray spectra from space The XMM- Newton observatory

Fluorescence ground  ionized   

Iron disks in X-rays No. of photons energy wavelength

Quasar accretion disks No. of photons energy wavelength soft X-raysEUVUV

The disk in MCG

A very hot corona No. of photons energy wavelength soft X-rays EUVUV hard X-rays disk continuum disk line

Electrons kick light into X-rays Fast-moving electron Inverse Compton scattering

A quasar

Thin heat thin gas slab bremsstrahlung radiation thin gas No. of photons energy wavelength

Gamma-ray bursts

Ultimate devastation The SWIFT mission

Scary monsters at work

Watch This Space! Monsters at Work Liz Puchnarewicz Mullard Space Science Laboratory University College London