Thursday, May 29, 2008, 16:00
OSGA/E6
R. Genzel, MPE Garching
Abstract:
Evidence has been accumulating for several decades that many galaxies
harbor central mass concentrations that may be in the form of black
holes with masses between a few million to a few billion time the mass
of the Sun. I will discuss measurements over the last decade, employing
adaptive optics imaging and spectroscopy on large ground-based
telescopes that prove the existence of such a massive black hole in the
Center of our Milky Way, beyond any reasonable doubt. These data also
provide key insights into its properties and environment. Future
interferometric studies of the Galactic Center black hole promise to be
able to test gravity in its strong field limit. I will also briefly
discuss the cosmological evolution of massive black holes.