The whirlpool galaxy, m51, is one of many galaxies with supermassive black holes at their core. The galaxy has a central black hole of about one million solar masses. Image: NASA

Black holes are some of the most exotic objects in the universe. They are the final evolutionary stage of giant stars much larger than the sun. When these stars explode, their cores collapse down to the size of large asteroid. That produces gravitational fields so intense that not even light can escape, reaching a point where space and time as we know them cease to exist.

So it isn't a surprise that Kelly Holley-Bockelmann became fascinated with when she was a young girl. What is exceptional is that she sustained this interest and pursued a career in astronomy. She's now a member of the small cadre of researchers who are applying the latest computer simulation techniques to study how black holes interact with their environment.

Now, the assistant professor of physics and astronomy has received nearly $1.1 million over five years from the National Science Foundation to use to study how "supermassive” black holes grow. Astronomers have found these gigantic black holes, weighing in at millions to billions of solar masses, lurking at the cores of most galaxies. For example, the black hole that has been detected at the core of our own Milky Way galaxy has a mass of about four million times that of the sun.

Due to the availability of Recovery Act funds, Holley-Bockelmann received the largest Faculty Early Career Development grant that NSF has ever awarded in astronomy. According to NSF, CAREER awards support exceptionally promising college and university junior faculty who are committed to the integration of research and education and are likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century. They are considered NSF's most prestigious honor for junior faculty members.

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