Observing the Brightest Objects in the Universe – Talk by Dr Vicky Fawcett

Name: Observing the Brightest Objects in the Universe – Talk by Dr Vicky Fawcett
Start: 2025-09-18T19:30:00+01:00
Location: University of Strathclyde Faculty of Engineering

Schedule

Thu, 18 Sep, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

University of Strathclyde Faculty of Engineering | Glasgow, SC

September Meeting: The Eric Tomney Memorial Lecture
Time:
7.30 PM lecture starts
Location:
Rm 6.41 of the James Weir Building (Old Royal College) of the University of Strathclyde, with the entrance off Montrose Street.
As our new ASG session begins, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Vicky Fawcett from the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics at Newcastle University, who will be giving a talk on:
“Observing the Brightest Objects in the Universe”
Synopsis:
Almost every known galaxy, including our own Milky Way, contains a supermassive black hole at its heart, with masses millions to billions that of our Sun. Understanding how these monster black holes shape their surroundings is crucial to our understanding of how galaxies evolve. Some black holes are very energetic, launching powerful winds and jets, and are referred to as "active." We have recently found a population of these active black holes that are enshrouded by dust and exhibit peculiar properties. An emerging theory is that these dusty black holes represent a key stage in galaxy evolution.
Biography:
Dr. Vicky Fawcett is an Astronomer and Research Associate at the School for Mathematics, Statistics and Physics of Newcastle University, where she researches quasars: extremely bright galaxies powered by supermassive black holes. She is part of two major spectroscopic surveys: the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) based at the Mayall 4m Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Multi-Object Optical and Near-IR Spectrograph (MOONS) currently being commissioned at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. She is also very involved in scientific outreach and has recently accepted a fellowship position at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Germany.