Date/Time
Date(s) - 18/11/2009
3:20 pm - 4:20 pm

Title: Supermassive Black Holes: Workhorses of the Universe

Speaker: Dr. Brian R. McNamara, Univeristy of Waterlo

Institute: University of Waterloo

Location: ABB 102

Description:

The hot atmospheres of galaxies and clusters of galaxies serve as repositories for the energy output from active galactic nuclei (AGN). X-ray observations are showing that star formation fueled by gas condensing out of the hot atmospheres is strongly suppressed by AGN feedback. AGN feedback may solve several outstanding problems in astrophysics, including the numbers of luminous galaxies and their colors, and the excess number of hot baryons in the Universe. I present new evidence that the most energetic AGN outbursts may be powered by rapidly-spinning, ultra-massive black holes.