Searching for Intermediate Mass Black Holes in Spiral Galaxies with the Help of Citizen Scientists

Grab a bite from the Daily Planet Café and join host Chris Smith for our monthly Science Café. Gather with other curious minds at this after-hours event for an informal presentation and conversation about current science topics with guest experts. The Daily Planet Café is open 5–8pm with a full menu during the Science Café.

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Join Dr. Patrick Treuthardt, Assistant Head of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, to explore his latest work investigating rare astronomical phenomena and engaging the public to help.

Nearly every large galaxy appears to host a supermassive black hole in its nucleus, whose mass ranges from millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun. The origin of these black holes is still not understood but rare, intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs; ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of times the mass of the Sun) may shed light on the problem. Measuring the mass of a nuclear black hole requires significant telescope resources, so a method of identifying a few probable candidates is necessary. Dr. Patrick Treuthardt will discuss an efficient means of identifying spiral galaxies that potentially harbor IMBHs with the help of citizen scientists, all-sky surveys, and existing scaling relations.