Astrophysics Seminars

Oct
23
2008

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar - NOTE TIME CHANGE

Stellar Dynamics Near Massive Black Holes: Young Stars, Hypervelocity Stars and Gravitational Wave Sources
Hagai Perets
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
A massive black hole resides in the center of most, perhaps all galaxies. The one in the center of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, provides a uniquely accessible laboratory for studying in detail the connections and interactions between a massive...
Oct
16
2008

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Chasing High-Magnification Microlensing Events to Hunt for Extrasolar Planets: Discoveries, Surprises and Challenges
Subo Dong
11:30am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
For a decade, high-magnification microlensing events have been theoretically anticipated as an important way to discover extrasolar planets. However, only in the last several years have they been firmly established as a crucial venue of microlensing...
Oct
06
2008

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar - NOTE DIFFERENT DAY

Cygnus A Revisited: a Precessing Jet and Emission from Multiple Jet Activity Periods
Katrien Steenbrugge
11:30am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
Cygnus A is the nearest powerful FR II classical double radio galaxy. We present a detailed study of this galaxy using archival radio and X-ray data. I will first show that the jet precesses, allowing us to determine an upper limit to the velocity...
Oct
02
2008

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

HeII Reionization and Its Effect on the IGM
Matt McQuinn
11:30am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
Observations of the intergalactic medium (IGM) suggest that quasars reionize the HeII at z ~ 3. HeII reionization heats the IGM by tens of thousands of Kelvin, and it affects the statistics of the HI and HeII Lyman-alpha forests. I will present a...