Mapping the Central Regions of Galaxies with the James Webb Space Telescope

Muller-Sanchez leading two projects to study the evolution of supermassive black holes

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the largest space telescope ever constructed. It will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, with longer wavelength coverage and greatly improved sensitivity. The JWST is being developed by NASA in partnership with the European and Canadian Space Agencies, with science observations proposed by the international astronomical community in a manner similar to Hubble.

Dr. Francisco Muller-Sanchez, assistant professor of the Department of Physics and Materials Science, is the Principal Investigator of two accepted cycle 1 JWST proposals about supermassive black holes. In one project, Muller-Sanchez will obtain JWST observations of the most compelling gravitational wave (GW) recoiling supermassive black hole (SMBH) candidate in the Universe. The confirmation of a GW recoiling SMBH would have an enormous impact on modern-day Physics. This would be momentous as a confirmation of the general relativistic prediction that recoils are an expected consequence of SMBH mergers. A recoiling SMBH discovery would also provide the first observational evidence that some SMBHs do in fact merge in timescales less than the age of the Universe. 

In a second project, Muller-Sanchez will use JWST to provide the most detailed characterization of the environment around an active supermassive black hole to date. Specifically, his team will be able to show how these objects are fed and how they influence their host galaxies.

Muller-Sanchez and his group at UofM will celebrate the launch of JWST on Dec. 18, with a special presentation and a live stream on launch day. For more information contact Muller-Sanchez at fmllrsnc@memphis.edu.