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January 18 (4:00PM) in the 2nd Floor Conference Room in Dearborn Speaker: Avery Broderick (Harvard CfA) “Microarcsecond imaging of Sgr A*: A way to test the Kerr metric” For the first time it is becoming technologically feasible to probe a black hole with horizon scale resolution. In principle, such images could be used to measure not only the qualitative predictions of GR (e.g., the presence of a silhouette), but also quantitatively test whether or not the Kerr metric is a proper description of black hole spacetimes. I will discuss the prospects for doing this in the next 5-10 years, across a number of frequencies, and in particular the possibility of directly imaging Sgr A* with a sub-mm VLBA comprised of existing and upcoming radio observatories. |