Eilat Glikman Receives NASA-Funded Research Grant

Eilat Glikman (Physics) has been awarded a grant from the NASA-funded Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in support of research that involves observations from NASA’s orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory.

This work is a collaborative project involving astrophysicists at the Astronomical Observatory of Rome (INAF/OA - Roma). This project, titled X-Raying A Rare Hyperluminous Ultramassive Black-Hole at Cosmic Dawn, will investigate the X-ray properties of an extremely luminous quasar at high redshift (i.e., the very early universe) with an anomalously over-massive black hole.

The existence of such an object is difficult to explain through usual black hole growth prescriptions. Only one other object with similar properties is known, and together with this second source, may represent a population different from other quasars at the earliest cosmic times. These objects are also hyperluminous in the infrared possibly revealing a distinct phase of evolution. A measurement of this source’s X-ray properties will determine whether it is a member of a different population and possibly reveal a different mechanism for black hole growth in the early universe.

Glikman studies quasars and their role in the formation and evolution of galaxies.