Goodness me! I meant to write my IYA blog over the weekend, but my car got broken into and robbed, so I am now relying on my notes here to jot down my reflections from that night. I don’t think that many of the people, who packed every seat in the auditorium, were expecting to hear a talk about black holes which did not include things like time-warp theory and wormholes. Dr. Kim Weaver’s talk about Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxies was incredibly informative, as we were introduced to their realities and scientific facts.

Dr. Weaver began by telling us how black holes fall along the same chain of evolution as neutron stars and white dwarfs, in that they are the final stage of evolution for a star, and are among the remnants of star death. The process of formation for stars peaked about 5 million years ago, thereafter creating black holes as massive stars began to explode, forming black holes, and absorbing surrounding materials. Some black holes have such tiny diameters that they could share the living quarters of the width of New York City with the tiny neutron star. While others may be supermassive, ballooning outwards to a diameter the width of our solar system, containing as much mass as 100 billion suns.

These giants, as Dr. Kim Weaver described, were essentially the core of some galaxies, as black hole size is shown to be directly correlated to the galaxy size which surrounds it. What is so convenient about black holes is that they can be seen across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and certain properties which were visible in the infrared or x-ray spectrum may not have been visible in the optical or radio, and visa versa, so we got to see the big picture of what makes a black hole.

There is a unified model of galaxies, displaying the accreting material
which surrounds the central black hole, in the shape of a torus, or a
donut shape. Dr. Weaver showed us how to read black hole signatures from a plot, in which we must subtract out the indications of stars, galaxy properties, and organic molecules. Black holes may be turned off and turned on as they are activated. The supermassive black hole is seen most often in young galaxies, with larger galaxies seeming to be the first to have formed in the universe (along with the bulk of all other large space-stuffs).

I was not disappointed to hear this exceptionally informative lecture on black holes rather than a theory-talk on things like timewarps. It’s refreshing to get an introduction to actual, known, and hands-on mechanics which would make even the most mysterious and powerful behemoths in the universe more familiar and approachable.

Those with further inquiries or curiosities should email Dr. Kimberly A. Weaver or Dominic Ludovici.
(Disclaimer: Please forgive any errors I may have made! Though happy to provide a blog review on the IYA Lecture Series, I am still but a lowly undergrad who appreciates corrections. Also, feel free to visit my own WVU webpage! :-) http://astro.wvu.edu/people/tabitha_smith )