Calendar of Events
Events Calendar
Searching for Active Galactic Nuclei in Low-Mass Galaxies
Speaker: Vivienne Baldassare (Yale)
The population of massive black holes (BHs) at the centers of nearby low-mass galaxies provides some of the best observational constraints on the masses of “black hole seeds” at high redshift. Furthermore, while BHs are ubiquitous and well-studied in Milky Way-sized and larger galaxies, relatively little is known about the population and properties of BHs in smaller galaxies. I will discuss recent observational efforts to find accreting BHs in low-mass galaxies via an array of multi-wavelength techniques, concentrating on searches using optical spectroscopy and optical photometric variability. I will also describe the multi-wavelength properties of active galactic nuclei in low-mass galaxies and discuss how they compare to more massive systems. Finally, I will discuss the properties of the active dwarf galaxy RGG 118, host to the smallest reported nuclear black hole.