Astronomy Tea Talk

The Galactic Population of Quiet Black Holes

Dr. Casey Lam, Carnegie/Harrison Postdoctoral Fellow, Carnegie Observatories,

Speaker: Dr. Casey Lam

Title: The Galactic Population of Quiet Black Holes

Abstract: There are expected to be 10^7 - 10^9 stellar-mass black holes (BHs) in the Milky Way. Only about 30 have been found, and nearly all of them are X-ray binaries, which are an intrinsically rare type of BH system. The majority of Galactic BHs are expected to be either isolated or in wide binaries. Since they do not produce "loud" accretion signals like X-ray binaries, they have eluded detection until very recently. I will discuss how to find isolated and wide binary BHs, the selection effects introduced in the process, and how we can start placing observational constraints on BH population properties. Characterizing the Galactic BH population will ultimately enable us to understand a broad range of astrophysics: from the evolution and death of massive stars, to binary interactions, mergers, and disruptions, to providing context for the population of merging BHs found via gravitational waves.

Event Sponsors:

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For more information, please contact Raphael Skalidis or Steven A. Giacalone by email at [email protected], [email protected].