Event Details

Jay Gallagher, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Macalester College and Emeritus Professor of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, will speak about "How Do Galaxies Control Their Growth?"

The visible components of galaxies grow as star formation converts gas into stars and a small percentage into black holes. In turn stars and central massive black holes feed mechanical energy into interstellar gas and the surroundings of galaxies thereby modifying conditions for future star formation. These galactic feedback processes, which also are affected by gas inflows, can control evolutionary rates in galaxies and therefore are central to the cycling of baryons through cosmic systems. This talk will review the observational evidence for the important role of feedback in the evolution of stellar bodies of galaxies and discuss why proper observational characterization of galaxy feedback remains an astrophysical challenge.

Refreshments at 3:00 PM