Cosmic cartographer Dr. Priyamvada Natajanaran investigates ancient black hole at latest Space Talk presentation
On Jan 18, 2024, Liberty Science Center hosted Dr. Priyamvada Natajanaran, professor of astronomy and physics at Yale University – as well as recipient of LSC’s Genius Award – for our latest Space Talk presentation: “Found! Ancient Black Hole.”
Black holes are found across the universe, from smaller black holes similar in mass to the Sun, to supermassive black holes with masses of millions or even billions times the Sun’s. We have a good understanding of how smaller black holes form – from the collapse of massive stars at the end of their lives – but the origin of supermassive black holes has remained a mystery.
Supermassive black holes are found at the centers of all large galaxies, including our very own Milky Way. But there is a problem – we have observed evidence of galaxies existing when the universe was less than 500 million years old, far too young for supermassive black holes at their centers to have formed and grown from the collapse of stars or any other known method.
In 2006, Dr. Natajaran and her colleagues proposed an idea: that these primordial supermassive black holes could form directly from the collapse of huge clouds of gas. These direct collapse black holes would have plenty of mass when formed to explain their presence in the early universe. It wasn’t until recently, with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, that we had a telescope powerful enough to test that idea by peering into the earliest years of the universe.
In the largest planetarium in the country, Dr. Natajaran shared with audiences evidence of the oldest black hole discovered to date, in a primordial galaxy called UHZ1, matching her predictions very strongly for a direct collapse black hole. In the coming years, Dr. Natajaran and her colleagues across the world will continue to search for more black holes like this one, and in the process could totally reshape our understanding of the formation of the universe’s earliest black holes and galaxies.
Watch the full presentation below in 360 degrees:
Join us on March 28, 2024 for our next Space Talk presentation: “The Atmospheres on Exoplanets,” presented by Dr. Leonardo Dos Santos of the Space Telescope Science Institute, as we explore the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system. Click here to learn more and reserve your spot now.
