Title: Exoplanets: Diverse Architectures and Unified Origin Abstract: While the exoplanetary field is replete with remarkable discoveries, perhaps the two most intriguing findings have been the detection of hot Jupiters – giant planets orbiting perilously close to their parent stars, and the startling abundance of super-Earths – a type of world entirely missing from our … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Songhu Wang (IUB)"

Title: The Path to a Next Generation Gamma-ray Observatory Abstract:  The Compton Gamma-ray Observatory was a one of the four original NASA Great Observatories and changed our view of the high energy universe.  Its successors (INTEGRAL, Swift, and Fermi) have expanded this view and are still contributing in new and exciting ways.  There are also … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Jeremy Perkins (NASA)"

Title: Bridging Physics and Observations of Black Hole-Powered Events  Abstract: Black hole (BH)-powered transients are abundant in the Universe, originating from compact object mergers, collapsing stars, galactic cores and more. Upcoming LIGO runs and new electromagnetic detectors, such as LSST and ULTRASAT position BH-powered multi-messenger events at the forefront of astrophysics. I will review the … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Ore Gottlieb (Flatiron Institute)"

Title: Impact of Central Massive Black Hole Accretion on the Event Horizon, Host Galaxy, and Beyond Abstract: Astrophysical black holes are surprisingly simple physical objects. Their gravitational field can be fully described by two parameters: mass and spin. We cannot directly observe black holes as no light escapes from the event horizon. However, we can … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Labani Mallick (U Manitoba) Virtual"