How to use:

This is an interactive model built with the Three.js library. It is designed to show different orientations of an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN). Drag the mouse around to view different orientations. Several images of real galaxies in the left panel are provided, and when the orientation matches, the images will light up.

Active Galactic Nuclei:

An Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) is caused by the black hole at the center of a galaxy when matter is actively falling into the black hole. The matter forms a donut-shaped accretion disk, which heats up as it falls into the black hole. It is heated up so much that it becomes plasma, and the black hole's magnetic field shoots these ionized particles out at relativistic speeds, forming the two jets along the axis of rotation. The AGN looks very different at different orientations. The accretion disk and the jets are clearly visible in the side view, but in the top view only a very bright source is visible.

For a review article see Fabian (1999): http://www.pnas.org/content/96/9/4749.full