College of Science Distinguished Speaker: Black Holes, Galaxies, and the Evolution of the Universe
College of Science Distinguished Speaker Series
Black Holes, Galaxies, and the Evolution of the Universe
Dr. Meg Urry
Israel Munson Professor of Physics
Director, Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics
Yale University
Abstract:
Black holes form at the centers of galaxies in the young Universe and, over the next 13 billion years, they grow together by factors of a million or more in mass. This growth generates energy that affects galaxy evolution, including that of the Milky Way galaxy in which we live. In this talk, I give several alternative descriptions of a black hole, explain how recent multi-wavelength surveys of the sky have provided a census of black hole growth, and show computer simulations that illustrate galaxy mergers and the evolution of the universe across cosmic time – all of which explains how the present-day universe came to be.
Bio:
Meg Urry is the Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and Director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, former Chair of the Yale Physics Department, and former President of the American Astronomical Society. Professor Urry got her Ph.D. in Physics from The Johns Hopkins University and her B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from Tufts University. Her scientific research focuses on active galaxies, which host accreting supermassive black holes in their centers. She has published over 370 refereed research articles on supermassive black holes and galaxies, including one of the most highly cited review papers in astronomy. Prof. Urry is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Astronomical Society, the American Physical Society, and the Association for Women in Science; received an honorary doctorate from Tufts University; was awarded the American Astronomical Society’s Annie Jump Cannon and George van Biesbroeck prizes, and the inaugural Distinguished Career Award of its High. Energy Astrophysics Division; and Yale University’s Howard R. Lamar award. Prior to moving to Yale in 2001, Prof. Urry was a senior astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which runs the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope for NASA. Professor Urry is also known for her efforts to increase the number of women and minorities in science, for which she won the 2015 Edward A. Bouchet Leadership Award from Yale University and the 2010 Women in Space Science Award from the Adler Planetarium. She is the founding Physics instructor for the Global Teaching Project, which provides advanced courses to promising high school students in under-served areas, beginning with a pilot program in rural Mississippi. She also writes about science for CNN.com.
Reception to follow in A-level Atrium.
Intended Audience:
Beginners, undergraduates, graduates. Those with interest in the topic.
To request an interpreter, please visit myaccess.rit.edu
Event Snapshot
When and Where
Who
This is an RIT Only Event
Interpreter Requested?
No