More than 100 astronomers will meet in Hawaii
November 3-8, 2002, to discuss our understanding
of the galactic center where it is believed that our
galaxy plays host to a super-massive black hole.
Reporters are invited to attend the conference at no
charge by notifying Peter Michaud at the
number/e-mail provided above.

Called “The Central 300 Parsecs,” the conference
is sponsored by several observatories on Hawaii’s
Mauna Kea to stimulate discussions and new
understanding in this dynamic field of research.
The conference will take place at the Keauhou
Beach Resort near Kailua-Kona, on the west side
of the Big Island.

“It is only recently that astronomers have had the
tools necessary to understand the center of our
galaxy with any certainty and the subject has
attracted a very diverse group of scientists from
theoreticians to astronomers studying light all
along the electromagnetic spectrum,” said Gemini
Observatory Senior Scientist Tom Geballe, who
chairs the conference’s organizing committees.

The study of our galaxy’s center has traditionally
been a daunting task due to the gas and dust that
obscures our view. In fact, it is estimated that in
optical light, scientists can only probe to about
10% of the estimated 25,000 light years to the
galactic core. However, by using the latest
generation of infrared, radio, and X-ray sensitive
instruments on ground-based telescopes and earth-
orbiting observatories, scientists have been able to
coax the core of our galaxy into revealing its
secrets.

At the conference, scientists from over a dozen
countries will share and discuss the most recent
infrared observations of stars whirling rapidly
about an ultradense central object that is generally
(but not unanimously) believed to be a black hole
with a mass equal to that of 2.6 million suns.
Others will report on and try to explain the origin
of the X-ray and radio radiation emanating from
the vicinity of that object. In addition to the central
massive black hole, the center of our galaxy is the
location of the densest star cluster in the galaxy
and a bizarre zoo of astronomical objects and
phenomena, many of which also will be the subject
of lectures and discussions.

More information on the conference, its
participants and specific topics to be discussed can
be found at:
http://www.gemini.edu/science/gc_conf/

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:
Peter Michaud
Gemini Observatory, Hilo HI
(808) 974-2510
pmichaud@gemini.edu

Science Contact:
Tom Geballe
Gemini Observatory, Hilo HI
(808) 094-2519
tgeballe@gemini.edu