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S. C. Gallagher (UCLA), P. M. Ogle (SSC), D. M. Alexander (IoA), G. T. Richards (Johns Hopkins), W. N. Brandt, G. Chartas (Penn State), A. E. Hornschemeier (GSFC), T. Yaqoob (Johns Hopkins)
Over cosmic time, a significant fraction of the energy from massive black-hole accretion could have been converted into kinetic energy by large-scale outflows, affecting the host galaxies by triggering star formation (by shocking or compressing the interstellar medium [ISM]), or perhaps even shutting it down (by clearing gas from the hosts).Indeed, current large-scale structure simulations require AGN 'feedback' to regulate the growth of massive galaxies. X-rays provide a penetrating probe of all of the material in an outflow, from cool dust through to highly ionized gas. From current X-ray studies of outflows from luminous AGNs, it is evident that only high velocity X-ray photoionized outflows can carry enough mass and kinetic energy to affect the ISM significantly. Constellation-X spectroscopy will enable the crucial measurements of accretion-related mass-outflow rates needed to determine their importance in massive galaxy evolution.
This work is supported by NASA.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #4
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.