Unveiling the Secrets Behind Supermassive Black Holes | The Caroline Herschel Prize Lecture 2025

Almost every known galaxy contains a supermassive black hole at its heart, including our own Milky Way, which have masses millions to billions that of our Sun. Understanding how these monster black holes shape their surroundings is crucial to our understanding of how galaxies evolve. Some black holes are very energetic, launching powerful winds and jets, and are referred to as “active”. We have recently found a population of these active black holes that are enshrouded by dust that exhibit peculiar properties. An emerging theory is that these dusty black holes represent a key stage in galaxy evolution. The Caroline Herschel Prize Lectureship was established in 2018 by what is now the Herschel Society, in association with the Royal Astronomical Society, to celebrate Caroline’s memory by supporting promising women astronomers early in their careers. Caroline, William’s younger sister, started out as his assistant, but in time became recognised as an important astronomer in her own right, was the first to be paid as such, and was awarded the RAS Gold Medal in 1828. The Caroline Herschel Prize Lecture was hosted by University of Bath in November in cooperation with the Society as part of the University’s public lecture series. Join this year's prize winner Dr Victoria Fawcett of Newcastle University for this amazing lecture!