Astronomy Lecture – Echo Mapping: Your Guide to the Supermassive Black Hole Region

Location: Ellipse (Technology Center, Room 8180)

Active supermassive black holes living in the centers of distant galaxies are some of the biggest and brightest objects in the universe. Because these active supermassive black holes are very far away, it is impossible to spatially resolve the giant reservoirs of gas that surround and feed them. For decades astronomers have taken advantage of the fact that light from these objects varies over time to substitute temporal resolution for spatial resolution. However, there is growing evidence that our current understanding of these gas reservoirs is wrong. The correct models for these gas reservoirs can only be revealed by examining the details of how the variability is echoed from one wavelength of light to another. I will explain how I combine computer simulations and telescope observations to reveal the meaning of these details.

About Dr. Amy Secunda
Amy Secunda received her Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University in 2024, where she bridged the gap between observations and simulations of active galactic nuclei (AGN) accretion disks using multi-frequency radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulations and multi-wavelength UV and optical time-domain surveys of AGN. In addition to her work on AGN disks, Amy has performed research in a broad range of astrophysics subfields from reionization to planet formation. She is currently performing research at the Flatiron Institute as a Flatiron Research Fellow.

For more information, please email Prof. Safaie: [email protected]