Charles F. Gammie

About

Charles F. Gammie is a professor in the Department of Astronomy at the Illinois College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. His research interests include black holes, the formation of the Moon, planet formation, star formation, cosmic ray transport, and interstellar turbulence. He has been recognized as an excellent teacher, receiving the Teacher Ranked as Excellent award in Fall 2018. Gammie holds additional campus affiliations as the Richard and Margaret Romano Professorial Scholar in Astronomy, University Scholar in Astronomy, and is a professor in both Physics and Astronomy. He is also associated with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and holds the Stanley O. Ikenberry Endowed Chair in Physics. His recent publications involve studies on supermassive binary black hole candidates, AGN jets, and black hole imaging, contributing to the understanding of phenomena observed with the Event Horizon Telescope.

Research topics

• Physics
• Astrophysics
• Astronomy
• Computer Science
• Optics
• Geology
• Quantum mechanics
• Remote sensing
• Computational physics

Selected publications

• First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole in the Center of the Milky Way

  The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2022 · 1712 citations

  Abstract We present the first Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the Galactic center source associated with a supermassive black hole. These observations were conducted in 2017 using a global interferometric array of eight telescopes operating at a wavelength of λ = 1.3 mm. The EHT data resolve a compact emission region with intrahour variability. A variety of imaging and modeling analyses all support an image that is dominated by a bright, thick ring with a d…

  DOI

• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. VIII. Magnetic Field Structure near The Event Horizon

  The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2021 · 640 citations

  Abstract Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations at 230 GHz have now imaged polarized emission around the supermassive black hole in M87 on event-horizon scales. This polarized synchrotron radiation probes the structure of magnetic fields and the plasma properties near the black hole. Here we compare the resolved polarization structure observed by the EHT, along with simultaneous unresolved observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, to expectations from theoretical mo…

  DOI

• Broadband Multi-wavelength Properties of M87 during the 2017 Event Horizon Telescope Campaign

  The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2021 · 98 citations

  In 2017, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration succeeded in capturing the first direct image of the center of the M87 galaxy. The asymmetric ring morphology and size are consistent with theoretical expectations for a weakly accreting supermassive black hole of mass ~6.5 × 109M⊙. The EHTC also partnered with several international facilities in space and on the ground, to arrange an extensive, quasi-simultaneous multi-wavelength campaign. This Letter presents the results and analysis of…

  DOI

• \nPATOKA: Simulating Electromagnetic Observables of Black Hole Accretion

  The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · 2022 · 69 citations

  \n Contains fulltext :\n 249221.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n

  PublisherDOI

• A Survey of General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Models for Black Hole Accretion Systems

  The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · 2025-02-24 · 16 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract General relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) simulations are an indispensable tool in studying accretion onto compact objects. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) frequently uses libraries of ideal GRMHD simulations to interpret polarimetric, event-horizon-scale observations of supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. In this work, we present a library of 10 nonradiative, ideal GRMHD simulations that were utilized by the EHT Collaboration in their analysis of Sagittarius…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Black Hole Accretion Theory and Computation Network

  NSF · $515k · 2013–2018

• PECASE: Theory of Black Hole Accretion Flows

  NSF · $570k · 2001–2008

• Collaborative Research: Predicting the Observational Appearance of Accreting Black Holes

  NSF · $436k · 2017–2023

Frequent coauthors

• G. Desvignes

  375 shared

• Jonathan Weintroub

  Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

  300 shared

• Ue‐Li Pen

  289 shared

• Shiro Ikeda

  The University of Tokyo

  277 shared

• Kazunori Akiyama

  273 shared

• R. P. J. Tilanus

  Dutch Research Council

  235 shared

• Jordy Davelaar

  211 shared

• H. J. van Langevelde

  210 shared

Labs

• Computational Astrophysics GroupPI

  Not provided

Awards & honors

• Teacher Ranked as Excellent, Fall 2018

Similar researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• Felipe Menanteauh-101
• Joaquin Vieirah-86
• Yue Shenh-84