The University of Michigan Astronomy Department will present the 2012/2013 Mohler Prize to Andrew Fabian of the Institute of Astronomy on Friday, November 30 at 7 PM in 1201 Chemistry Bldg. Dr. Fabian will then present a public lecture:

"Feedback from Active Black Holes: How a central black hole can control a galaxy"

All large galaxies appear to have a central black hole with a mass about 0.1% that of the host galaxy. Evidence is growing that the black hole may be the prime mover here, despite the radius of the galaxy being a billion times larger than the radius of the black hole. The key point is the enormous quantity of energy produced by matter accreting onto the black hole. At times this makes the galaxy nucleus active and cause energy to be fed back into the galaxy to push and heat its gas clouds. How these processes operate and how the energy interacts with the gas will be discussed and illustrated with images from the radio through X-ray wavebands.

Dr. Andrew Fabian is a Royal Society Research Professor at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge. He has served as President of the Royal Astronomical Society and is Vice Master of Darwin College, Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, has been awarded an Order of the British Empire, won the Rossi Prize in 2001, and the Dannie Heineman Prize in 2008. His research interests include black holes, clusters of galaxies, and X-ray astronomy.

Orren C Mohler was chairman of the Department of Astronomy and director of the observatories from 1962 - 1970. The Mohler Prize was established in 1986, to recognize outstanding research in astronomy and astrophysics. Several past Mohler prize winners have gone on to receive Nobel or Crafoord prizes.

Members of the public are invited to Angell Hall following the lecture for an SAS open house