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Physics & Astronomy Colloquium - Dr. Alex Lupsasca, Vanderbilt University

Title: "The Black Hole Photon Ring"

2/3/2023
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Wilder 104 & Zoom
Intended Audience(s): Public
Categories: Arts and Sciences, Lectures & Seminars
Abstract: What does a black hole look like? The first images of the supermassive black hole M87* display a bright ring encircling the event horizon, which appears as a dark patch in its surrounding emission. But Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that within this image there also lies a thin "photon ring" consisting of multiple mirror images of the main emission. These images arise from photons that orbited around the black hole multiple times, probing the warped space-time geometry just outside its horizon. The photon ring carries an imprint of the strong gravity in this region and encodes fundamental properties of the black hole. A measurement of this predicted (but not yet observed) ring could provide a precise test of general relativity and will be the target of a NASA mission proposed to fly within the next decade.
 
***Join before the Colloquium at 3:00 pm for discussion with speaker, Dr. Sasha Philippov, in Wilder 103, for coffee and cookies!*** 
Hosted by Rufus Boyack
 
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://dartmouth.zoom.us/j/92598910992?pwd=TzE5Qlg0TW1CTGczTnhVZmVkMVo1QT09
Passcode: Physics
 
For more information, contact:
Tressena Manning
tressena.a.manning@dartmouth.edu
603-646-2854
Permanent URL to this event: https://physics.dartmouth.edu/events/event?event=69414

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.