Thursday, May 22, 2008
Unveiling a Supermassive Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy
An Evening with Professor Andrea Ghez
Astronomy Department at University of California, Los Angeles
More than a quarter century ago, it was suggested that galaxies such as our own Milky Way may harbor massive, though possibly dormant, central black holes. Definitive proof, for or against, the existence of a massive central black hole lies in the assessment of the distribution of matter in the center of the Galaxy. The motion of the stars in the vicinity of a black hole offers a way to determine this distribution. Based on 10 years of high resolution imaging, Dr. Ghez's team has moved the case for a supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center from a possibility to a certainty. Additionally, spectroscopy has revealed that the stars orbiting in such close proximity are apparently massive and young; the origin of these stars is difficult to explain, given the strong tidal forces, and may provide key insight into the growth of the central black hole.
Dr. Andrea Ghez, professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA, was named in Discover magazine's 20th anniversary issue (October 2000) as one of the "20 Young Scientists to Watch". Her research focuses on the origin and early life of stars and planets. She has demonstrated the existence of a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, with a mass 4 million times that of our sun. Her honors and awards include the Amelia Earhart Award, a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, the Annie Jump Cannon Award, a Sloan Fellowship, a Packard Fellowship, the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award from the American Physical Society, and, most recently, election to the National Academy of Sciences as well as the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and University of Arizona's Aaronson Award. Ghez earned her PhD from Caltech, her BS from MIT, and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Arizona's Steward. She joined UCLA's faculty in 1994.
ABOUT THE LAS CUMBRES OBSERVATORY LECTURES
The Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telesope Network (LCOGT), the Department of Physics at UC Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum (SBNHM) share an important and fundamental goal: education.
LCOGT is establishing a world-class outreach effort through construction of small telescope networks and an astronomical outreach website. The SBMNH places a high priority on public education, and astrophysics is an excellent field for this endeavor because of the intrinsic public appeal and the strong local community of amateur astronomers. The Department of Physics is building its efforts in astrophysics, and expanding the research horizons of our graduate students is a high priority.
Thanks to the generosity and support of LCOGT, over the next five years, these three organizations will partner to bring an eminent astrophysicist to Santa Barbara once a year. The astronomer will present a high profile public lecture in the Fleischmann Auditorium at the SBMNH, two graduate level lectures at UCSB to physics graduate students on the frontiers in the field, and interact with the scientific/outreach staff at LCOGT. These lectures will be taped and available for distribution by DVD and web-streaming.
This annual lecture series provides an opportunity for community members, students and scientists in Santa Barbara to interact with these high profile scientists from around the work and learn about the frontiers of the exciting fields of astrophysics and cosmology.
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