But Levenson and her colleagues say the starbursts are what obscure the energy bursts. How exactly a black hole might cause the starbursts is still in question. In the Seyfert galaxies, the gravity of the central black hole could be helping to do this. The findings raise questions about how galaxies evolve. Starbursts may comprise a significant fraction in the energy output of galaxies like Seyferts, and could also be boosting the output of other distant high-energy sources such as quasars, the researchers said.
Starburst regions are also places of stellar death.
But there s no direct evidence for this idea, Levenson said. The findings were presented November 6 at a meeting of the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society in Honolulu. Click here for more headlines and information on black holes.