Our speaker on 18 May was Mallika Sinha.
Her topic had the very captivating title “Black holes and spacetime and gravity – oh my”.
Mallika is a PHD student at Monash University and has already completed a double degree at the ANU.
Mallika’s presentation was supported by terrific slides and images and she spoke with a level of authority that impressed everyone at the meeting.
While notes were being taken of the presentation for the purpose of this summary, most of what was mentioned was more complex that I could get my head around and I also had trouble spelling some of the matters that were referenced. This is no reflection on the quality Mallika’s presentation, but more on the skills of the note taker.
Some of the snippets of information from the presentation were:
· The super massive blackhole named Sagittarius was found in 2022
· The hole is bigger than the Sun and is heavier than the Sun; it is also very dense
· A 20 year timelapse was used to identify Sagittarius
· In 1950 the first images of Sagittarius were identified in Australia
· There is gas rolling around the black hole
· Gravitational waves and gravity play an important role
· Over 200 gravitational black holes have now been identified and there are likely to be many more.
Many questions were asked by members of the audience who have an interest in the stars and planets. Mallika had no problems in responding to all the questions.
It was a delight to have Mallika join us and provide an insight into what is a very complex and fascinating area of science.
