Center for Astrophysics Research and Technologies Seminar Series
Microquasars and Relations
Presented by Vivek Dhawan, NRAO
Accretion power and nuclear fusion compete to illuminate the universe.
The central region of almost any galaxy harbors a black hole that shines
in X-rays, depending on how much gas it is accreting. The thermal X-ray emission from a hot disk is often accompanied by jets of radio-emitting directed energy. This marriage persists over a range of 10^9 in the mass of the central object, with stars of ~1Mo at the low end. Since they are relatively close, bright, and rapidly evolving, the 'micro' analogs give 'laboratory quality' data that is unavailable for the distant giants.
I will survey some data (a fraction of it is my contribution) on X-ray spectra & time variability, and VLBA radio imaging & astrometry, and try to tie these to wider themes in astrophysics. For example, how does VLBI astrometry help to decode stellar evolution? or measure black hole spin?
2:00 pm, Thursday, February 12, 2015
PAIS-2540, PAIS
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