Unravelling the Mysteries of Matter Surrounding Supermassive Black Holes

Abstract

Uncertainties of atomic data can compromise the interpretation of astronomical observations. Here, we discuss the case of low-temperature dielectronic recombination of iron ions in connection with X-ray spectra from active galactic nuclei, and we explain how new dielectronic recombination rate coefficients from storage-ring experiments have helped to remove previous inconsistencies in the astrophysical modeling of such spectra.