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. Dr. Piro will describe some of the best theories to explain this mystery and what they can teach us about these enigmatic objects. Dr. Anthony Piro – Staff Scientist, Carnegie Science Observatories.
This is a rescreening of a Carnegie Science Lecture.
Meeting will be followed by tea, coffee and snacks.
