Super-massive Black Holes & Galaxies

Website archive 1995-2013

Victoria Centre is part of the national Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, which is dedicated to bringing information about astronomy to the general public.


Advanced Search

    

Home
Events
Image Gallery
Online Articles
Observing Highlights
Search

 

 

 

 

April 13, 2005 - Super-massive Black Holes and Galaxies - Laura Ferrarese, HIA-HST

Galaxy NGC 4261 with black hole in centreWith the existence of super-massive black holes in galactic centers established beyond any reasonable doubt, the study of black hole demographics has become the focus of current research efforts. I will critically compare estimates of the mass density in super-massive black holes from the present day to the quasar era, derived using a variety of methods. In particular, I will discuss the nature of the connection between super-massive black holes and their host galaxies in the local Universe, and how the observations have helped us in shaping a coherent view of how super-massive black holes formed and evolve. I will conclude by discussing the role that the next generation of ground and space based observatories will play in this field.

Bio: I received my PhD in 1996 at > Johns Hopkins University, working with Holland Ford on morphology and dynamics of elliptical galaxies. I then moved to Caltech for a post-doc, then to Rutgers, in New Jersey, where I stayed as an associate professor until September 2004, when I moved to HIA. I am here as a Senior Research Officer. My research is focused towards studying the shape and kinematics of elliptical galaxies, and determining the "overall scale" of the Universe by measuring Cepheid distances to nearby galaxies.

bullet

Supermassive Black Holes - BBC - Science & Nature - Horizon

bullet

Supermassive black holes (June 2002)- Physics World - PhysicsWeb

bullet

Black Hole Discovery Leads to New Field of Study - Hopkins Johns Hopkins University News Releases

bullet

The New History of Black Holes 'Co-evolution' Dramatically Alters Dark Reputation - space.com

� 2014 Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Victoria Centre
All text and images are Copyright their respective owners
Victoria Centre adheres to our National Privacy Policy
Website: archive.victoria.rasc.ca - Contact us

RASC Victoria Centre does not endorse nor is responsible for the content of external websites. External links will open in a new window.
Last updated: January 29, 2014

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is dedicated to the promotion of astronomy and its related sciences; we espouse the scientific method, and support dissemination of discoveries and theories based on that well-tested method.

Web hosting & email services provided by Matthew Watson