Topic: supermassive black hole

A star passing close to a supermassive black hole can be torn apart, supplying gas to an accretion disk that brightens dramatically. This seminar explains how observations of these tidal-disruption events reveal otherwise difficult-to-observe aspects of black-hole growth.

The Milky Way's centre contains a supermassive black hole of roughly four million solar masses whose activity is comparatively weak. This seminar discusses its small radio jet and the infrared and X-ray flares that provide information about rotation in the surrounding accretion flow.