Andrea M. Ghez
Andrea M. Ghez
Andrea Mia Ghezis an American astronomer and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA. In 2004, Discover magazine listed Ghez as one of the top 20 scientists in the United States who have shown a high degree of understanding in their respective fields...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth16 June 1965
CountryUnited States of America
bigger building follow hard larger obsessed promise promises second
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.
call center exotic finding gives hole interested objects opportunity prove whether
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.
atmosphere great people
The atmosphere is great for people - it allows us to survive - but it's a real headache for astronomers.
amount hole key mass motions proving showing tremendous
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.
black hole life massive ordinary state
An ordinary black hole is thought to be the end state of a really massive star's life.
associate finite ignore massive scales size super work
As an astronomer, I get to ignore the details of the things that we don't understand. There's a lot of work that we can do on scales that we do understand, and there is actually a finite size that I can associate with a super massive black hole.
approach closest general opportunity period precise relativity theory
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.
amount comparable hole inside mass million proof region size solar tremendous within
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.
black center eating emission falling galaxy hole matter mysteries onto
One of the big mysteries about the black hole at the center of the galaxy is, 'Why don't we see emission from matter falling onto the black hole, or, rather, the black hole eating up its surroundings?'
basically galaxies holes lit massive material whether
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.
infinity physics havens
Any time things go to infinity in physics, we know we haven't gotten it right.
black details size
As an astronomer, I get to ignore the details of the things that we dont understand. Theres a lot of work that we can do on scales that we do understand, and there is actually a finite size that I can associate with a super massive black hole.
ucla world telescopes
The Keck telescope, which is the largest in the world, had opened just before I began my faculty position at UCLA.
winning force gravity
Gravity wins over all other known forces.