The power emitted in this process allow us to see the most distant quasars, which are thought to harbor such objects at their cores, and to study the environment around massive black holes, as well as the black holes themselves. As with the center of the Milky Way, gas, dust, and other obscuring material limits what can be learned from optical, ultraviolet, and infrared observations. While the spectral and temporal character may vary radically from object to object, they can be explained by having different views of the black hole and the matter surrounding it. How they support this unified picture and the questions they raise will be presented. The 45 Day Supercycle of V1159 Ori.
Cataclysmic variables are the nearest X-ray sources.
This material ultimately accretes onto the white dwarf, creating X-rays in the process. The short and long timescale capabilities of XTE provide unique opportunities to study the details of the accretion flow in the cases of normal white dwarfs with accretion disks and magnetic white dwarfs. As the orbital periods are only a few hours, the accretion geometry can be mapped out in a short time. Several examples of XTE results on systems of these types will be discussed, including a 40 day multiwavelength campaign on the dwarf nova V1159 Ori that encompassed XTE data combined with 3 other satellites and ground-based observations. Top of Page Realtime RXTE Science Data Display.