Episode 17: The Mysterious Centre of the Milky Way Galaxy, with Leo Meyer

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Feature Guest: Leo Meyer

Dr. Leo Meyer joins Justin Trottier at The Star Spot to discuss his UCLA research group’s discovery of S0-102, a star 11.5 light years from the supermassive black hole at the core of our galaxy. The closest star yet discovered to the galactic centre, S0-102 could provide a unique opportunity to test Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity in an extreme environment. The two also cover the technological revolutions at the Keck telescope that have made this and related discoveries possible and what other surprises have been made and may yet be in store in the dynamic and volatile region at the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy.

About Leo Meyer

Dr. Leo Meyer is Assistant Researcher in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California Los Angeles. He obtained his PhD in physics from the university of cologne, Germany. He held a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service from 2008 to 2009 and a Graduate Fellowship of the Max-planck Society from 2005 to 2008. His research expertise lies in adaptive optics, general relativity, back holes and especially the Milky Way’s galactic centre.

Links

UCLA astronomers at Keck Observatory discover pivotal star to test Einstein’s theory

TMT will take discoveries of stars orbiting the Milky Way’s monster black hole to the next level

Closer to the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole

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