Supermassive black holes are found in the centres of all massive galaxies. In most cases they are quiescent, detectable only through their gravitational pull on surrounding stars and gas.

A small fraction of these black holes however, are accreting gas from their surrounding. This process emits extreme amounts of radiation. A supermassive black hole containing only a tiny fraction of the mass in a galaxy can outshine all other light from the galaxy.

Dr Carolin Villforth will explain how we came to detect and identify supermassive black holes. I will cover new research which showing how supermassive black holes grow and how they might play a vital role in shaping the properties of galaxies.

This event is part of the 2019-2020 season of free public lectures for people with an interest in science, organised by Portsmouth and District Physical Society in partnership with the University of Portsmouth.