A Beginner's Guide to Black Holes - with Amélie Saintonge

What is a black hole and how does it come into being? Amélie Saintonge takes us on a lightspeed tour of these fascinating celestial giants.

Black holes are one of the strangest and most fascinating things in the universe. They are massively heavy, with gravity so strong that even light can’t escape them. When they collide, they release such huge amounts ofenergy that they send ripples through spacetime itself. Despite these colossal features, we can’t even directly observe them with telescopes.

Amélie Saintonge is Professor of Astrophysics in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at University College London (UCL).Her research is currently funded by the Royal Society through a University Research Fellowship.

Her research programme is centered around the question of what regulates the growth and evolution of galaxies. In particular, she uses radio telescope to make a census of the cold gas contents of large sample of galaxies; understanding when, where and how galaxies efficiently form stars out of gas is key in identifying the mechanism driving their evolution.

She regularly talks about her work to public audiences. Recent gigs have included New Scientist Live, the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibit, the Hay Festival, the IOP Festival of Physics, and the Herstmonceux Astronomy Festival.

This talk was recorded on 15 July 2021.

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[mattyoung]

Who likes a presentation all about black holes? ... I DO!

No matter how many I seem to watch, I always love catching a good black hole presentation! I really enjoyed this video - it's a great basic introduction to black holes and so beautifully presented that it makes it easy to understand and follow. I must compliment Prof. Amélie Saintonge on doing a smashing job here! Royal Institute - you guys are the best! ;)

[sortadecentgaming]

"Very well scientifically informed image of a black hole." Indeed. Thanks, Kip!

[michaelkammerdiener]

Wow! Your passion and enthusiasm for this subject is wonderful. Thank you for the presentation.

[yad-thaddag]

We want more! We want more! 😉
I would love to see a sequel to this video where you dive deeper into the subject of black holes!

[peterbalogh]

I like... /wanted to say astrophysics but it would be an overstatement of my abilities/ the fairytale version of space stuff, and this is more entertaining for me than the sum of all the movies of 2021. I will watch this many times, and can't thank you enough for phrasing it for my level of understanding.

[chrissiriska]

I love the excitement she has for her science. This is how I get when I try to explain the universe to my kids.

[Migs]

Awesome. I love your excitement on astrophysics.

[rylian]

Supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies almost certainly had to have been directly formed in the early universe by some mechanism we are not aware of just yet. Or perhaps they are something else entirely different from stellar black holes. Pretty fascinating.

[matthewsaldana]

What a great presentation! Your passion for cosmology really comes through and is so inspiring.

[Wheelrezz]

That explenation how white dwarfs and black holes form is the best so far. So simplistic! Thank you!

[wuyqrbt]

Great Subject
Thank you so much dear *Ri*

[vladimirp]

Astronomy... Maths, physics, romantics...Still infinite and unrevealed. Delighted by the Ri stuff. Thumbs up!

[marshandmere]

Thank you Amelie that was great. I have been fascinated by black holes for as long as i can remember. I think it started with the film "Black Hole" that was released in 1979 (which is truly awful!!) but the science behind black holes is incredible. I know when Christopher Nolan released "Interstellar" (which i have to admit is my favourite movie) he worked with Kip Thorne so the images used in the film would be as accurate as possible but i always wondered why it had that odd shape and for some reason never thought of the light lensing over the black hole, absolutely fascinating so thanks for bringing me clarity. I have to agree with you when it comes to the ingenuity of scientists when it comes to the myriad of problems they face and overcome every day using hard work, commitment and grey matter to increase our understanding of science. Keep up the good work!! :)

[demoncloud]

The presentation is very fluid and easy to grasp, well done

[pidginmac]

Wonderful presentation! Worthy of the Ri!

[marc-andrebrunet]

🎯Science Rock ! 👊🧐..
.. and Black Hole is a friend of Rock&Roll 🤘😎👍!!
Thanks to all scientists and those who made this video possible.

[davidguerrero]

Absolutely amazing lecture, thank you!!

[landrum]

Wonderful video for young students and those seeking introduction to black holes.

[chimbrazo]

Great presentation Amélie. I thought it was very interesting that we haven't been able to detect any mid sized black holes!! I wonder why that is... is it because they dont exist? If so, why wouldnt they? Strange that we could only get super small or super big ones. Does this mean the formation methods of each type are fundamentally different processes?

[deeliciousplum]

Wonderful and accessible talk. Thank you Amélie Saintonge. 🌌