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Dark Energy

Connections between nuclear activity and galaxy evolution: Can you quench a galaxy without shredding a few stars along the way?

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
Department of Astronomy
Location
134 Astronomy Building
Virtual
wifi event
Date
Apr 8, 2025   3:45 - 4:45 pm  
Speaker
Professor Decker French
Contact
Daniel Franco
E-Mail
danielf9@illinois.edu
Phone
217-300-6769
Originating Calendar
Astronomy Colloquium Speaker Calendar

The evolution of galaxies is fundamentally connected to the evolution of their central black holes. The large-scale environment of the host galaxy's gas reservoir, star formation rate, and merger history affect the rate at which stars and gas can be accreted onto the central supermassive black hole. In response, accretion energy can regulate and ultimately drive the end of star formation in these host galaxies. I will present recent work from my group studying the interplay between AGN (Active Galactic Nuclei) activity, TDEs (Tidal Disruption Events), mergers, and galaxy evolution, using multi-wavelength observations. Our work reveals a picture where low-level AGN activity and/or TDEs provides a flickering, low-level source of energy to suppress star formation after galaxies quench. I will present recent work highlighting the possibilities with Rubin observatory and other facilities to dramatically expand our understanding of galaxy -black hole co-evolution.

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