Physics Professor Tiziana DiMatteo Featured on NOVA Special Oct. 31

This computer simulation shows snapshots of the time evolution of a collision of two spiral galaxies with black holes at their center. Color indicates temperature and brightness indicates the gas density.

After trick-or-treating, why not see something really "monstrous" on Halloween Eve. The work of Tiziana DiMatteo, associate professor of physics, will be featured on the NOVA special "Monster of the Milky Way" at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 31 on WQED-TV.

Supermassive black holes, whose activities DiMatteo simulates as part of her research, are considered among the most impressive cosmic phenomena. In the standard scenario of galaxy formation, galaxies grow by coming together with one another by the pull of gravity. In the process, the black holes at their center merge together and quickly grow to reach their observed masses of a billion times that of the Sun. Hence, they are called supermassive black holes. NOVA dubs them "all-devouring beasts" because they consume surrounding cosmic matter. Astrophysicists across the world are attempting to identify and understand these powerful giants.

Lauren Ward
October 25, 2006