Donald Lynden-Bell (1935-2018)

Journal article

In 1969, Donald Lynden-Bell became the first astrophysicist to suggest that supermassive black holes in the cores of galaxies might generate the profuse energy put out by quasars — the astonishingly luminous distant bodies identified by astronomer Maarten Schmidt earlier that decade. Lynden-Bell proposed that quasars are powered by the release of gravitational energy as material falls into the deep potential well of the black hole, a process that is much more efficient than thermonuclear fusion

Authors: Davies, R

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Journal: Nature
• Volume: 555
• Issue: 7695
• Pages: 166
• Publication date: 2018-02-28
• DOI: 10.1038/d41586-018-02579-w
• EISSN: 1476-4687
• ISSN: 0028-0836
• Pmid: 29517024
• Language: English
• Keywords: Journal Article