The IAU Commission X1 is a Cross-Division D-J initiative with the primary goal of promoting the development of research on supermassive black holes (SMBHs), active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and star formation feedback, as well as their role in galaxy evolution.
Through this commission, we aim to foster interaction between theorists and observers across the electromagnetic spectrum to investigate the interplay between the growth of SMBHs and galaxies, including the effects of their environment.
We aim to bridge the studies on feedback from the “galaxy evolution" community, which primarily focuses mostly on the role of star formation, and the “AGN" community, which concentrates on feedback from the environments of the nuclear SMBH, in order to advance our understanding of galaxy evolution.

We welcome input from the community to enhance our initiatives and collaborations. Please share your feedback by completing this form

News

I Spy with My Large Binocular Eyes: A Dusty Torus Around a Supermassive Black Hole?

Recent observations with the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer have provided one of the clearest views yet of a dusty torus surrounding a nearby supermassive black hole. By resolving the structure of the obscuring material around the active galactic nucleus, astronomers are gaining new insight into how black holes accrete matter and how their environments shape the observed properties of active galaxies.

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Hints for Massive Galaxy Evolution from Dusty Star-Forming Galaxies

A recent study combining observations from the James Webb Space Telescope and ALMA has provided new clues about how massive galaxies evolve across cosmic time. Researchers found that dusty star-forming galaxies may represent a transitional phase between actively star-forming systems and quiescent galaxies, supporting an inside-out growth scenario in which stellar mass and dust first build up in galactic cores before star formation gradually shuts down.

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Conferences

The X-ray Universe 2026

08-11 June 2026

The X-ray Universe 2026 aims to encompass a broad range of high-energy astrophysics topics, from solar system studies to cosmology and at providing a showcase for results and discoveries from XMM-Newton as well as from the variety of other current missions.
Image Credit: @ESA_XMM

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Continuing the JWST Revolution: Understanding Early Galaxy Formation

01-26 June 2026

Continuing the JWST Revolution: Understanding Early Galaxy Formation workshop brings together observers and theorists to review early star/galaxy/black-hole formation, reionisation and future strategies with facilities like JWST, ALMA, SKA and ELT.

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Papers

Large-scale Structure in COSMOS-Web: Tracing Galaxy Evolution in the Cosmic Web up to z ∼ 7 with the Largest JWST Survey

H. Hatamnia, B. Mobasher, S. Taamoli et al., ApJ, 1002, 192, 2026

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Excavating the Ruins: An Ancient z = 2.675 Galaxy Which Formed in the First 500 Myr

I. McConachie, J. Antwi-Danso, W. Chang et al., ApJ, 1002, 74, 2026

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