Jan 5 – 9, 2026
The University of Hong Kong
Asia/Hong_Kong timezone

Rise of the Giants: Witnessing the Birth of Supermassive Black Holes at Cosmic Dawn

CC05
Jan 5, 2026, 9:15 AM
25m
Talk CC05: Galaxies, AGNs, Black Holes and Cosmology Invited talk(s)

Speaker

Prof. Luis Ho (Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University)

Description

Supermassive black holes are ubiquitous in the nearby Universe. Their lifecycle appears to be closely connected to the evolution of galaxies. How and when did these mysterious objects form? What was the first generation of black hole seeds? How did they grow quickly enough to power the most distant quasars? And how precisely do black holes co-evolve with galaxies? I will summarize the demographics of central black holes in the local Universe and recent discoveries made with the James Webb Space Telescope that offer surprising, new insights into the earliest phases of black hole and galaxy formation during the first billion years of cosmic history. I will outline what we know and the much else that still remains uncertain.

Author

Prof. Luis Ho (Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University)

Presentation materials

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