NASA Illustration of Cool Dust Around an Active Black Hole

This artist illustration shows the thick ring of dust that can obscure the energetic processes that occur near the supermassive black hole of an active galactic nuclei. Researchers have found that the dust surrounding active, ravenous black holes is much more compact than previously thought. via NASA http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/illustration-of-cool-dust-around-an-active-black-hole