Christopher Peter O'Dea

I investigate the process of providing gas to super-massive black holes in the nuclei of galaxies, the formation of relativistic jets, the propagation of the radio source and the interaction of the radio source with the environment. The transfer of energy from the radio source to the environment turns out to provide the solution to a number of outstanding problems in galaxy formation and clusters of galaxies.

Research highlights

VLA and HST image of the powerful radio galaxy Hercules A. The purple is radio synchrotron emission from relativistic particles and magnetic fields transported away from the supermassive black hole by powerful jets.

Research expertise

• Active galactic nuclei
• Clusters of galaxies
• Extragalactic astronomy

• Google Scholar