Astronomy Colloquium
Jan
27
2026
Jan
27
2026
Description
2 Fast, 2 Furious? Galaxy and Black Hole Formation in the JWST Era
The launch and commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope is ushering in a new era in our understanding of our cosmic origins. Galaxies are a fundamental building block of the universe, yet how they formed has remained enigmatic owing to our inability to observe them at early cosmic times. In just its first three years of operation, JWST has already upended our understanding of galaxy and black hole growth in the early universe. In this talk I will discuss some of the surprising results that have come out of our work with JWST and their impact on our understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies and black holes. This includes remarkably mature galaxies at early times, bulges where we thought there were none, a new method for measuring galaxy kinematics that has revealed galaxies lacking dark matter, and perhaps a theorized but never before observed early phase of supermassive black hole growth. I’ll conclude with a discussion of where the field is moving and the rich discovery space in this new era of extragalactic astrophysics.
Other Events in This Series
Jan
28
2025
Astronomy Colloquium: The Impact of Stellar Feedback on the Dark Matter Properties of Galaxies
Nicolas Bouché is a CNRS astrophysicist working at CRAL (Center of Research in Astrophysique of Lyon)
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm • In Person
Speaker(s): Nicolas Bouché - Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon
Feb
4
2025
Astronomy Colloquium: Galactic Archeology, Near and (Sort of) Far
Gail Zasowski is an Associate Professor at the University of Utah
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm • In Person
Speaker(s): Gail Zasowski - University of Utah
Mar
11
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Astronomy Colloquium: A Tour of Dust in Galaxies
Desika Narayanan is an Associate Professor at the University of Florida
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm • In Person
Speaker(s): Desika Narayanan - University of Florida
Mar
25
2025
Astronomy Colloquium: Hot Jupiter Demographics with a Magnitude-Complete Sample from TESS
Samuel Yee is a 51 Pegasi b Fellow at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm • In Person
Speaker(s): Samuel Yee - Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics