Department of Physics and Astronomy

Distinguished Lecture Series

ANDREA GHEZ

University of California, Los Angeles

2012 Crafoord Prize winner from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Lauren Leichtman & Arthur Levine Chair of Astrophysics, UCLA

The Monster at the Heart of Our Galaxy

Learn about new developments in the study of black holes. Through the capture and analysis of twenty years of high-resolution imaging, Dr. Ghez and her team have moved the case for a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy from a possibility to a certainty.  This was made possible with the first measurements of stellar orbits around a galactic nucleus. Further advances in state-of-the-art of high-resolution imaging technology on the world’s largest telescopes have greatly expanded the power of using stellar orbits to study black holes. Recent observations have revealed an environment around the black hole that is quite unexpected (young stars where there should be none; a lack of old stars where there should be many; and a puzzling new class of objects). Continued measurements of the motions of stars have solved many of the puzzles posed by these perplexing populations of stars. This work is providing insight into how black holes grow and the role that they play in regulating the growth of their host galaxies. Future measurements of stellar orbits at the Galactic Center hold the promise of improving our understanding of gravity through tests of Einstein Theory of General Relativity in an unexplored regime.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

8:00 pm

1410 Biomedical Physical Sciences Bldg.

Light refreshments will be served in the BPS Atrium starting at 7:30pm

Cost:  FREE

Kim Crosslan

Graduate Secretary

Dept. Physics and Astronomy

567 Wilson Rd, room 1312

East Lansing, MI 48824

(517) 884-5531