The Messy Eating Habits of Black Holes
When an unsuspecting star wanders too close to a supermassive black hole, the star can be ripped apart by the black hole's immense gravity. As the black hole messily feeds on the star, it produces an amazing display of light as bright as ten billion suns for many months. Using new surveys, astronomers are finding these hungry black holes throughout the Universe. Recently, it has been discovered that many years after feeding, these black holes sometimes produce a "heartbeat" of X-ray eruptions that repeat every several hours. Anthony Piro will describe some of the best theories to explain this mystery and what they can teach us about these enigmatic objects.
Program
- 6:30 p.m. Doors open
- 7 p.m. Brief musical performance
- 7:30 p.m. Lecture begins
About the Speaker
Anthony Piro is a Carnegie Staff Scientist and Adjunct Professor of Physics and Astronomy at USC. His research is focused on theoretical astrophysics with a broad interest in topics involving the Universe in its most extreme states, including black holes, neutron stars, and astrophysical explosions. Dr. Piro led the team of astronomers to first discover the radioactive glow of a neutron star merger, an event that was named Science publication’s 2017 Breakthrough of the Year.
Carnegie Observatories presents the 23rd season of talks highlighting the most exciting discoveries in today’s golden age of astronomy. Carnegie Observatories scientists have transformed humankind’s understanding of the Cosmos, from the revelation of the universe’s expansion to the discovery of dark energy—and the groundbreaking work continues today. Carnegie scientists are still at the vanguard of astronomical research at the world-famous Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, home of the twin 6.5m Magellan telescopes and future site of the 24m Giant Magellan Telescope.