NASA gives grant for black-hole research at UA
Taniah Tudor
Issue date: 9/12/08 Section: News
The technique developed by AGES is based on what seems to be a connection between black holes and spiral galaxies, Kennefick said.
"Galaxies typically have two arms," he said. "The more tightly wound the arms, the bigger the black hole."
The group plans to explore this connection as a measure of determining the size and number of supermassive black holes, according to the Web site, and also how they affect the evolution of galaxies, Kennefick said.
Several students will be working on the project with AGES, including undergraduate and graduate students from the UA.
AGES is advertising for two postdoctoral positions to be filled, one which will be from the UA, who will work closely with the students and devote plenty of time to research, Kennefick said.
"I think it would be really great if this [grant] caused the two universities to be more widely known in the space sciences," said Adam Hughes, a graduate student in Space and Planetary Sciences from Smackover who is participating in the study.
Hughes said many people don't know the UA has a space and planetary sciences department.
"I came here in the physics department and found out there is a space center," he said. "Three days after I got to school, I changed my major form physics to space science."
He also said he thinks it will give individuals the personal gain of knowledge about science, perhaps stimulating interest.
"For example, next year is the international year of astronomy," Hughes said. "It has been 400 years since Galileo discovered the telescope."
Hughes said he thinks improved knowledge of the department might also help the postdoctoral positions filled.
"In science, we can only make predictions on what we know or what we have observed, but tomorrow it might be different," said Paul Nguyen, a junior physics major from Fort Smith. "This [research] might be that opportunity to learn something we didn't know and change how we see things."
Nguyen said he was glad to see people recognized for their dedication.
Ashley Stewart, a senior physics major from Collinsville, Okla., who is helping with the research, said it was interesting watching the individual projects of the scientists work together "because everyone is doing something a little different."
Stewart said she thinks the grant will be really good to promote astronomy in the physics department.
"Galaxies typically have two arms," he said. "The more tightly wound the arms, the bigger the black hole."
The group plans to explore this connection as a measure of determining the size and number of supermassive black holes, according to the Web site, and also how they affect the evolution of galaxies, Kennefick said.
Several students will be working on the project with AGES, including undergraduate and graduate students from the UA.
AGES is advertising for two postdoctoral positions to be filled, one which will be from the UA, who will work closely with the students and devote plenty of time to research, Kennefick said.
"I think it would be really great if this [grant] caused the two universities to be more widely known in the space sciences," said Adam Hughes, a graduate student in Space and Planetary Sciences from Smackover who is participating in the study.
Hughes said many people don't know the UA has a space and planetary sciences department.
"I came here in the physics department and found out there is a space center," he said. "Three days after I got to school, I changed my major form physics to space science."
He also said he thinks it will give individuals the personal gain of knowledge about science, perhaps stimulating interest.
"For example, next year is the international year of astronomy," Hughes said. "It has been 400 years since Galileo discovered the telescope."
Hughes said he thinks improved knowledge of the department might also help the postdoctoral positions filled.
"In science, we can only make predictions on what we know or what we have observed, but tomorrow it might be different," said Paul Nguyen, a junior physics major from Fort Smith. "This [research] might be that opportunity to learn something we didn't know and change how we see things."
Nguyen said he was glad to see people recognized for their dedication.
Ashley Stewart, a senior physics major from Collinsville, Okla., who is helping with the research, said it was interesting watching the individual projects of the scientists work together "because everyone is doing something a little different."
Stewart said she thinks the grant will be really good to promote astronomy in the physics department.
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