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JOINT DAUT-ICTP-OATS-SISSA COLLOQUIUM
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Speaker: Reinhard Genzel (Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik)

Title: The Galactic Centre

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Abstract: Evidence has been accumulating for several decades that quasars, the most luminous objects in the Universe, are powered by accretion of matter onto massive black holes. I will discuss recent observations, employing adaptive optics imaging on large ground-based telescopes that prove the existence of such a massive black hole in the center of our Milky Way, beyond any reasonable doubt. These observations indicate that the Galactic Center black hole may be rotating rapidly. I will also discuss our present knowledge about the formation and evolution of these massive black holes in the early Universe.
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