Our galaxy's pretty ordinary, garden-variety. So if we believe our galaxy has a super massive black hole, that tells us that most, if not all, galaxies host such a black hole at their centers. Andrea M. Ghez blackcentergalaxy Change image and share on social
There's a large cluster of stars that are orbiting the center of our galaxy. And by measuring the motion of stars, and in particular, their orbits, we can figure out whether or not there's a central black hole. Andrea M. Ghez blackcentercentral share on social
I'm interested in finding whether or not there is a really massive, what we like to call 'super massive' black hole at the center of our galaxy. And the reason this is interesting is that it gives us an opportunity to prove whether or not these exotic objects really exist. Andrea M. Ghez blackcallcenter share on social
The key to proving that there's a black hole is showing that there's a tremendous amount of mass in a very small volume. And you can do that with the motions of stars. Andrea M. Ghez amountblackhole Change image and share on social
One of the key differences between galaxies with super massive black holes is whether or not the black holes are lit up, because they are basically bingeing on a lot of material in its surroundings. Andrea M. Ghez basicallybingeblack Change image and share on social
Astronomers are obsessed with building larger and larger telescopes. There are two promises that we make with bigger telescopes: that they can see fainter things and that they see more detail. But it's been really hard to follow through on that second promise because of atmospheric distortion. Andrea M. Ghez astronomeratmosphericbig share on social
An ordinary black hole is thought to be the end state of a really massive star's life. Andrea M. Ghez blackendhole Change image and share on social
Proof of the black hole is a tremendous amount of mass inside a very small volume. There's 4 million times the mass of our sun within a region that's comparable to the size of our solar system. Andrea M. Ghez amountblackcomparable Change image and share on social
The atmosphere is great for people - it allows us to survive - but it's a real headache for astronomers. Andrea M. Ghez astronomeratmospheregreat Change image and share on social
The star S0-2 orbits around Sgr A* every 16 years and will go through its closest approach in 2018. That's an opportunity to test Einstein's General Relativity theory through very precise measurements of this star's short period orbit. Andrea M. Ghez approachcloseeinstein share on social