About the Instructor

• Priyamvada Natarajan

  “I was always attracted by the cosmos— the deep, dark mysteries it held have always seduced me.”
  
  Priyamvada Natarajan is a professor of Astronomy and Physics at the University of Yale. She is the author of the pioneering work 'Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos.' She was also the first woman in Astrophysics to be elected as a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge.
  
  Natarajan is widely regarded for her work on the cutting-edge of physics that includes mapping dark matter, dark energy, and particularly her work in gravitational lensing.
  
  'She has pioneered the mapping and modeling of the universe’s invisible contents.' - Quanta Magazine

  Priyamvada Natarajan is well known for her pioneering work on mapping dark energy and supermassive black holes. Professor Natarajan was also the first woman in astrophysics to be elected as a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge and was elected last year to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Course Syllabus

• Part 1: The evolution of our understanding of the stars
  How are black holes distributed around the galaxy? Why do some stay in place while others wander?
• Part 2: Modern progress into black holes
  How does the new space telescope help us understand the formation of the first black holes and the creation of supermassive black holes?