The most distant black holes

Chris J. Willott (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics)

Abstract:
The growth of supermassive black holes is an important piece of the
puzzle of galaxy formation. There is evidence for very early growth of
extremely massive black holes. I will discuss how Gemini is used to
discover the most distant quasars and determine their properties such
as black hole masses. I will also talk about efforts to determine
AGN host galaxy properties and future possibilities for AGN
research at Gemini and Subaru.