What is it that makes supermassive black holes grow so big?
For more Dr Becky, check out her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrBecky/videos
Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/UVkb-f5In8M
When we think of black holes, we often think of them as endless hoovers, sucking up anything around them. In reality, it’s very difficult to grow a black hole; to get matter close enough to that point of no return. Instead, most matter will happily orbit a black hole. Just like the Earth orbits the Sun, the Sun orbits a supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way over 4 million times more massive than the Sun itself.
Becky Smethurst is an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford and star of astronomy-themed YouTube channel Dr Becky. Her current research is trying to answer the question 'how do galaxies and black holes evolve together?'. Her YouTube channel, Dr Becky, where each week she explains either an unsolved mystery, a weird object found in space or general space news with an unnatural level of enthusiasm, has over 200,000 subscribers (and counting!). Her debut public science book ‘Space: 10 things you should know’ was named one of Sky at Night Magazine’s top 20 books of 2019.
You can buy it here: https://geni.us/drbecky
This talk was recorded on 25th May 2021.
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