Speaker: Prof. Aaron Barth, University of California, Irvine
Topic: “Supermassive black holes in active galaxies: new results from reverberation mapping”
Time: 3:00 pm, Friday, May 2, 2014
Place: PA-215 (refreshments will be served at 2:45 pm)
Abstract:
Supermassive black holes are thought to be present in the centers of all large galaxies, and these black holes grow during active phases of quasar accretion. The primary method for studying black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is reverberation mapping, which uses the temporal variability of the quasar’s central engine to probe the distribution and kinematics of ionized gas within the inner few light-days to light-months around the black hole. Since 2008, the Lick AGN Monitoring Project Team has been using the Lick Observatory 3-meter telescope to carry out reverberation programs targeting nearby active galaxies. I will present an overview of the method of reverberation mapping and results from our project on black hole masses and the structure of the emission-line regions in AGNs
Supermassive black holes are thought to be present in the centers of all large galaxies, and these black holes grow during active phases of quasar accretion. The primary method for studying black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is reverberation mapping, which uses the temporal variability of the quasar’s central engine to probe the distribution and kinematics of ionized gas within the inner few light-days to light-months around the black hole. Since 2008, the Lick AGN Monitoring Project Team has been using the Lick Observatory 3-meter telescope to carry out reverberation programs targeting nearby active galaxies. I
will present an overview of the method of reverberation mapping and results from our project on black hole masses and the structure of the emission-line regions in AGNs