Research Highlights

Astrophysics
Questions about Quasars: How to Best Weigh a Celestial Body
A comparison of two theoretical models, the cloud and the disk wind model
Published: August 18, 2023

In a new paper in The Astrophysical Journal, JILA Fellow Jason Dexter, graduate student Kirk Long, and other collaborators compared two main theoretical models for emission data for a specific quasar, 3C 273. Using these theoretical models, astrophysicists like Dexter can better understand how these quasars form and change over time.

Quasars, or active galactic nuclei (AGN), are believed to be powered by supermassive black holes at their centers. Among the brightest objects in the universe, quasars emit a brilliant array of light across the electromagnetic spectrum. This emission carries vital information about the nature of the black hole and surrounding regions, providing clues that astrophysicists can exploit to better understand the black hole's dynamics. 

PI: Jason Dexter
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Astrophysics
The Mystery of Black Hole Flares
photo of black hole flaring
Published: October 19, 2021

In 2019, a team of researchers used an international network of radio telescopes—called the Event Horizon Telescope—to take the first photo of a supermassive black hole in the center of the elliptical galaxy Messier 87 (M87). On that team of researchers was JILA Fellow Jason Dexter. Since then, Dexter has been studying M87's black hole further using simulations, with code written by researchers at the University of Illinois. As described in a new paper published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), Dexter, and his team of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, collaborated with researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Illinois to create a new simulation studying the edge of a black hole. 

PI: Jason Dexter
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Astrophysics
Scientists Dig Deeper into Subject of First-Ever Image of a Black Hole
Image of the first black hole pictured
Published: May 10, 2021

JILA Fellow Jason Dexter works with the Event Horizon Team to further study the first photograph ever taken of a black hole. 

PI: Jason Dexter
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