On September 27, 2012 Jeff Oishi joined the University of Michigan Astronomy department to present his data on accretion disks.

Jeff Oishi is a theorist with a broad interest in Astrophysical fluid dynamics. I know that sounds very complicated but in simpler terms he likes to research the natural ways that fluids flow and move in terms of astronomical objects.

He received his Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics from Columbia University in 2000. In 2007, Oishi received his PhD in Astronomy from the University of Virginia. 

 If you want more information on Oishi here is a link to a site with some of his research  http://cms.jsoishi.org/node/3

Oishi presented his research on black holes this past Thursday to the University of Michigan astronomy department.  He seemed to be particularly focused on accretion disks and how they influenced star formation (I WILL DO A POST ON STAR FORMATION AND ONE ON STAR TYPES SO YOU CAN LOOK THERE FOR INFORMATION ON STARS.)  An accretion disk is a structure that is formed by diffuse material (gas and dust) that is in orbital motion (the way the earth rotates around the sun) around a central body. In Oishi's case the central body was a protostar. 

Here are some images of accretion disks:

These accretion disks (the dust inside them), according to Oishi, rotate around the protostar just as the earth rotates around the sun. But, some of the disks matter actually can fall onto the protostar, thus making it bigger and more massive. 

Oishi researches the material in the accretion disks and how that material behaves. He said that he studied the composition of the disks. The density of the disks.  He also studies the fluctuations in the disk.  He says that all of the matter in the disk is not setup in a homogenous way.  The matter can be unevenly distributed throughout the accretion disk. 

Here is an image of a magnetic field in an accretion disk:

All in all it was a great presentation that was very interesting.