Andrea Ghez, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, UC Los Angeles
Over the last two decades, we have used the world's largest telescopes and next-generation imaging technology to study the center of our galaxy with more resolving power than ever before. These observations have tracked the motions of stars to provide the best evidence to-date that supermassive black holes exist, challenging our knowledge of fundamental physics and suggesting that most, if not all, galaxies harbor such objects at their cores. This work has also shown that the environment near a central supermassive black hole looks quite different from what was expected. I will discuss our recent results on the black hole, its environment, G2 (the tidally distorted object currently undergoing periapse passage), and upcoming opportunities to carry out unique tests of Einstein's theory of General Relativity in the extreme environment near a supermassive black hole.