Black Holes in Binaries and Galactic Nuclei: Diagnostics, Demography and Formation
Subtitle: Proceedings of the ESO Workshop Held at Garching, Germany, 6-8 September ... Giacconi (ESO Astrophysics Symposia)
Contributors: L. Kaper (Editor); E.P.J. van den Heuvel (Editor); P.A. Woudt (Editor)
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: Springer
Published: March 26, 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 378
ISBN-13: 9783540415817
Subjects: Astrophysics; Cosmology & the universe; Galaxies, clusters, intergalactic matter; Stars, interstellar matter; Science; Congresses; Black Holes; Galaxies; Cosmology; Science/Mathematics; Galactic nuclei; Astronomy - Star Guides; Astrophysics & Space Science; Galaxy Formation; Science / Astronomy; Science : Astrophysics & Space Science; Science : Cosmology; Black holes (Astronomy); Double stars
First sentence: I am truly happy to be back here at ESO for a short visit and see so many colleagues and friends with whom we have shared the last few years of wonderful enterprises.
Description: The observational evidence for the existence of black holes has grown significantly over recent decades. Stellar-mass black holes are detected as X-ray sources in binary systems, while supermassive black holes, with masses more than a million times the mass of the Sun, lurk in the nuclei of galaxies. These proceedings provide a useful and up-to-date overview of the observations of black holes in binaries, in the center of the Milky Way, and in the nuclei of galaxies, presented by leading expert astronomers. Special attention is given to the formation (including the recent evidence from gamma-ray bursts), physical properties, and demographics of black holes.