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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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