Dartmouth Events

Abstract: Astrophysics is the study of how we, as a galaxy with our component stars and planets, have come to be and what our future holds. Although we have made great progress in developing a consistent paradigm for the formation and evolution of galaxies, we still do not fully understand this process. One particularly interesting question regards the role that active supermassive black holes play in the transition from a gas-rich, actively star forming state to gas-poor quiescence. I will discuss my research on the impact of black hole feedback in galaxies in this special transitional state using both a detailed case study of NGC1266 and a survey of galaxies in transition. I will briefly summarize how these results are informed by my new study on the structure of accreting supermassive black holes and conclude with how we can use future multiwavelength observations to investigate the question of the ubiquity and diversity black hole activity in transitioning galaxies.