Location: Multifunctional Hall on the 5th floor Meeting time: 2021/10/14 10:00-11:30 (CST)

Speaker: Zhiyuan Li (Nanjing University)

An X-ray Perspective of the Galactic Center

Zhiyuan Li


Abstract

By virtue of its proximity, the Galactic center (GC) is a unique and exemplary laboratory for studying a wide array of astronomical phenomena and physical processes. In this talk, I will present an overview of our recent work on the GC, based primarily on Chandra X-ray observations and hydrodynamic simulations. These include: (i) a census of more than 3500 X-ray-emittting, close binaries in the nuclear star cluster; (ii) a clarification of an intermediate-mass black hole candidate in the vicinity of the central SMBH (commonly known as Sgr A); (iii) X-ray spectroscopic evidence for a type Iax supernova remnant; (iv) a model of the recently discovered GC radio bubbles/X-ray chimneys as a SN-driven, magnetically-collimated outflow; and (v) a proposal for a parsec-scale X-ray jet from Sgr A.


Bio

Zhiyuan Li is a Professor of Astronomy at Nanjing University. He obtained his Bachelor and Master degrees in Astronomy at NJU and his PhD degree in Astrophysics at UMass/Amherst. He was then a postdoc at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and an assistant researcher at UCLA, before joining the faculty of NJU in 2013. His research is focused on high-energy astrophysics in the context of galaxy evolution, using a multi-wavelength approach.