Duane Lee

Columbia University, PhD Candidate

Nuclear Star Clusters: The Nurseries of Supermassive Black Holes?

Nuclear Star Clusters (NSCs) are an unique, super large group of both "young" and "old" stars that live in the centers of many galaxies. Some of these clusters have super-massive black holes (SMBHs) in the their centers as well. Recent discoveries in star clusters found in our own Milky Way galaxy lead us to new clues about how these SMBHs are formed. In the talk, I will explain the basic concepts of black hole growth in star clusters, the unique characteristics of NSCs, and why many astronomers believe that NSCs are where the black holes, widely believed to be at the centers of every galaxy, are born and fed to become the SMBHs we see today.