AGGIELIF1
THE BATTALIO!
eturns to non-linear®
f the movie being i
no also utilizes a wii
:ks and side stories, i
in of Lucy Liu’s chant.
Sci|Tech
1 The Battalion Page 5 • Tuesday, October 21,2003
Unraveling the mystery of black holes
Astronomer Tod Lauer says that black holes exist and may help form galaxies
by no means perfect:
split over this hard®
and brutally violent,*
Kung Fu action fife
of the theater half®,
lould be prepared fon
J not see this movie,
nee an action flick, yoi
-- Robert Saucedt
i.iop \ linls can I sjuiI
>ave Boyle, who was
y abused as a boy. No
it afterward.
's book, which inspired
lid there’s a great scene
r and father pretend®
pened — as if by pie-
n it would all go aw:
end it says sometfe
oo, and working cki
emotion. You don't cry.
And it’s such a strong
' neighborhoods.”
By Amelia Williamson
THE BATTALION
Over the past few decades,
astronomers have struggled with the
difficulties surrounding the observation
and understanding of black holes, and
until now, black holes have remained a
silent mystery.
Tod Lauer, an
associate astronomer
at the National
Optical Astronomy
Observatory in
Tucson, Ariz., has
spent many years
working to uncover
the mystery of black
holes. Last Thursday
at a colloquium held by the Texas
A&M physics department, Lauer
explained to A&M students and faculty
how his research has
shown that black holes
not only exist, but are
I present at the centers of
many galaxies and may
even be related to the
creation and formation
of galaxies.
Lauer is part of a 13-
member team of
astronomers called the
NukerTeam, which was
established in 1985 to
i use the Hubble Space
; Telescope to determine
i the center structure of
[ galaxies and look for
f black holes.
Lauer said he’s been
[ interested in astronomy
since he built a model of the solar sys
tem for a school project when he was 6
unsold.
i Tve been interested since I was a
I kid," Lauer said. “It was a different
I time. 1 grew up with the space program
-the race to the moon — so the envi
ronment, the time in terms of science
and thinking of space, was all around.”
Lauer chose to focus his research
on galaxy centers and black holes for
many reasons. Not much was known
about black holes when Lauer began
his research, and many questioned the
existence of black holes due to the
lack of observation and interpretation,
Lauer said.
“(The existence of black holes) was
a prime question ... and 1 thought I
could do that,” Lauer said. “The
(Hubble) Space Telescope was going
to fly, and so it was really the right
time and the right place to work on
this problem.”
In his talk, Lauer explained that
after almost two decades of work, the
Nuker Team is now able to demon
strate that massive black holes lie in
the center of many galaxies and that
black holes can even control the cen
tral structure of galax
ies. He said that the
team found black holes
in almost all of the
galaxies in which
detection was possible.
The team also found
the mass of a black hole
at the center of a given
galaxy is roughly relat
ed to the galaxy’s lumi
nosity, the amount of
light it emits, and that it
is tightly related to the
velocity of the stars that
lie within the bulge
near the center of the
galaxy. This proves that
galaxies and black
holes found at their
centers are closely connected.
“Tod Lauer’s research is important
because it will help predict the motion
and behavior of our galaxy and of other
galaxies, and will help (scientists) find
out how the universe is structured,” said
senior physics major Robert Blessitt.
It was a different
time. I grew up with
the space program
— the race to the
moon — so the
environment... was
all around.
— Tod Lauer
associate astronomer at the
National Optical Astronomy
Observatory
Astronomers have been working for
years to figure out the formation
process and evolution of galaxies.
Countless amounts of research have
been spent trying to unravel the truth
about this mysterious process.
“(Tod Lauer’s work) will help in
solving the problem of how galaxies
form,” said A&M physics professor
James White.
Senior physics major Casey Defen
said he is pleased that the A&M
physics department invites prominent
astronomers such as Lauer to speak at
the University about their discoveries.
Deen is interested in studying astrono
my in graduate school and believes
that having access to scientists in the
field is important.
“I think that (Lauer’s) trip to campus
is important because it will carry inter
est in astronomy on campus, which will
hopefully result in an astronomy major
here at Texas A&M,” Deen said.
The Nuker Team has linked black
holes to the center of galaxies and has
paved the way for future research deal
ing with the relationship between
galaxies and black holes.
“The fact that this connects to
other things in astronomy, I think, is
what makes it important,” Lauer
said. “(The idea) that black holes may
have something to do with how galax
ies themselves are created is a very
deep connection.”
ged with driv
i influence
’) — Dennis
iving under the in
he crashed a motorcy-
s outside a strip i
star, who was in
is legs, was not jailed
:harge. He was is
in court for an arraign-
veeks, police said,
mployee’s motorcycle
pop wheelies when lie
kesman Jose
ARE YOU A
q PARAMEDIC?
42-year-old formei
n was charged
c in Newport Bead
ce say they
vmplaints about noise
r visitor to Las Vegas,
tlement this year will
i who accused him ol
el-casino in 1998.
he NBA in
\
Want
|gj&> -v-
- Experience with a collegiate
911 EMS service?
Professional leadership
portunities?
Continuing education
hours?
EMS
And much more
For more information, visit:
http://ems.tamu.edu
or call 845-4321
nights of Columbus
s for Life of America
The Life Sciences Career Fair
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Biochemistry/Biophysics Building
For all students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of
Science and the College of Veterinary Medicine (Biomedical Science Program).
Employers are looking for students interested in biotechnology sales,
environmental testing, forensics, management, research, healthcare, and more!
EMAIL samantha@cctr.tamu.edu for more information abouth this event
Career Center
Texas A&M University
With you every step of the way
http://careercenter.tam u.edu
209 Kokins 845-5 1 39
UP TO $2000 IN GRANT
MONEY FOR STUDENT
RESEARCH ARROAD*
FINAL INFORMATIONAL:
Wednesday, October 22 @ 7:00pm MSC 223J
DON’T MISS IT!
http ://ltjordan.tamu.edu
*Open to all majors, US Citizens and Residents only
MSC L.T. Jordan Institute for
International Awareness
OZONA
wed s l pints
thurs *1 wells
weekday
lunch specials 11-4