Talk: Thursday September 4th, 2025. 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM EDT.
Wallberg Memorial Building, Room WB116
Demos and telescope tours: 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM EDT.
McLennan Physical Laboratories
Join us at the September AstroTour! The event is FREE and open to all. NO PRIOR REGISTRATION REQUIRED!! Our September AstroTour features UofT PhD Candidate Alicia Savelli's talk on all things black holes!
Talk Abstract:
What is a black hole? How does it form? Why does it look like that? Will it turn me into spaghetti? Black holes are one of the most alluring astronomical objects, inspiring many science fiction stories and sparking intrigue in space enthusiasts. Astronomers are just as interested in black holes as you — if not more! Black holes are home to some of the most extreme environments in the Universe, resulting in a lot of fascinating physics on scales as small as subatomic particles and as large as entire galaxies. In this talk, we will not only answer common black hole curiosities such as these, but also delve into how astronomers use black holes to study the limits of physics and evolution of the Universe!
About the Speaker:
Alicia is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics. She writes down analytical theories and runs simulations of the gas that falls into black holes to find out what makes them “shine”. Before starting her PhD, Alicia was a high school physics and maths teacher, but still has a strong passion for trying to make science easier to reach for everyone. Outside of research, Alicia is usually listening to Taylor Swift and hanging out with her cat.
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