May 13, 2009 - Active Galactic Nucleii:
A matter of perspective - Dr. Emily Down, Visiting Astronomer,
NRC HIA
Active Galactic Nuclei are powerful, but rare, phenomena which occur in some
galaxies. A small region at the heart of the galaxy releases a vast quantity of
energy which outshines all the stars in the galaxy put together. I will talk
about what an active galactic nucleus is, how it appears from the Earth, how we
can measure which direction it points in, and how this information is used to
study their formation and structure. I will briefly discuss how the birth of
these strange and marvellous objects may be linked to the formation of normal
galaxies.
Presentation (4.3Mb pdf)
Bio: I completed a Masters degree in Physics at Oxford University, UK, in
2002, and returned after a year as a library assistant to do a PhD in
Astrophysics, which I finished in 2008. I currently hold a one-year Government
of Canada postdoctoral research fellowship at the Herzberg Institute of
Astrophysics in Victoria. My research is in the field of galaxy evolution,
focussing on investigating the structure, formation and evolution of quasars
using Bayesian statistical modelling techniques.
Emily Down's
Astrophysics Webpage
