Marin Science Seminar Presentation: “Black Holes: The Science Behind the Science Fiction” (March 13, 2013) Download the flyer here.

I will begin by describing what black holes are (and what they are not!). I will then discuss how big black holes at the centers of galaxies are discovered, how they form, and how they give rise to some of the most remarkable and bizarre phenomena in the universe.

Eliot Quataert went to a public high school in upstate New York and then majored in physics as an undergraduate at MIT.  He received his PhD from the Harvard Astronomy Department.  He joined the faculty at UC Berkeley in 2001, where he is now a Professor of Astronomy and Physics and the Director of the Theoretical Astrophysics Center.    Quataert is an astrophysical theorist who works on a wide range of problems, from the astrophysics of stars and black holes to how galaxies form.  He is the recipient of a number of national awards for his research and is also a highly regarded teacher and public lecturer.