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Free and open to the public but per our host’s policy, minors (under 18) are welcome to attend as long as they are accompanied by their parent or guardian at all times.

This meeting’s speaker will present online.

Early galaxies and infant black holes

in the primeval Universe

Finding and understanding the nature of the first stars at cosmic dawn is one of the most important and most ambitious goals for modern astrophysics. The first populations of stars produced the first chemical elements heavier than helium and formed the first, small protogalaxies, which then evolved, across the cosmic epoch, into the large and mature galaxies, such as the Milky Way and those in our local neighbour. Equally important and equally challenging is the search, in the early Universe, of the seeds of the first population of black holes, which later evolved in the supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies, with masses even exceeding a billion times the mass of the Sun. When matter accretes on such supermassive black holes it can become so luminous to vastly outshine the light emitted by all stars in their host galaxy.

Since its launch, about two years ago, the James Webb Space Telescope has been revolutionizing this area of research. Its sensitivity in detecting infrared light from the remotest parts of the Universe is orders of magnitude higher than any previous observatory, an historical leap in astronomy and, more broadly, in science. I will presents some of the extraordinary discoveries from the Webb telescope, which have resulted in several unexpected findings. I will also discuss the new puzzles and areas of investigation that have been opened by Webb’s observations, how these challenge theoretical models, and the prospects of further progress in the coming years.

Roberto Maiolino is Professor of Experimental Astrophysics in the Department of Physics and at the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge. He is also an Honorary Professor at University College London and a Royal Society Research Professor.

He has served as Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was knighted by the President of Italy in the Order of the Star of Italy and was awarded the Blaauw Honorary Professorship at the University of Groningen.

His research focuses on the formation of galaxies and black holes, using observations from some of the largest ground-based and space telescopes. He has played a leading role in several major projects, including the James Webb Space Telescope, the MOONS spectrograph for the Very Large Telescope, and the ANDES spectrograph for the Extremely Large Telescope.

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