| Our Vision for our Extragalactic Program: | |
 |
What is the nature of black holes and dark matter in the Universe? How do these mysterious forms of hidden mass impact the origin and growth of visible matter in the form of galaxies, giant gas clouds, and stars? Our vision is to establish an internationally recognized center for the study of black holes and dark matter and their host galaxies, building on our strong reputations and funding in these areas |
| Black Holes and Active Galactic Nuclei: | |
| Monster black holes, with masses that are a million to a billion times more than our Sun, live at the centers of most galaxies. At GSU, we specialize in observational studies of feeding black holes in AGN that measure: |  |
| Galaxies: | |
| Gravitationally-bound collections of stars and gas, galaxies are much more than just the hosts of supermassive black holes and the luminous centers of dark matter halos. We also specialize in observational studies that measure: |  |
| Observational programs: | |
| We carry out observations throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, including radio, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and x-rays. We have dedicated access to ground-based telescopes, and a strong track record of winning competitive observing time at other ground-based observatories (e.g., WIYN, Gemini) and space-based observatories (HST, Chandra, XMM). |  |