Abstract
I discuss observational signatures of feeding processes in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), from the unresolved accretion disk up to kiloparsec scales. The geometry of accretion disks is beginning to be accessible via the double-peaked emission-lines, which seem to be originated within a few thousand of gravitational radii of the nuclear supermassive black hole (SMBH). The accretion flow in these ``double-peakers'' (which have LINER spectra) and other LINERs is radiatively inefficient (RIAF), suggesting that this is the dominant form of mass accretion towards nuclear SMBH's in the near Universe. Surrounding the accretion disk, there has been mounting evidence of the presence of young stars. Spectroscopic signatures of recent bursts of star formation have been found from parsec to kiloparparsec scales around the nucleus. In similar scales, the morphology of AGN host galaxies usually reveals an excess of gas and dust (relative to non-active galaxies) delineating nuclear spirals which could be the feeding channels to the nuclear SMBH. But there is only one case so far (NGC 1097) for which recent two-dimensional kinematics reveal streaming motions towards the nucleus. New observations with Integral Field Units (IFU) of AGN at high spatial resolutions (better than ∼ 10 pc) are necessary in order to confirm if this scenario applies also to other AGN's.
