Dimitrios Psaltis
Associate Professor of Astronomy and Physics
Steward Observatory
University of Arizona
The black hole in the center of the Milky Way is one of the most studied black holes in the Universe. In the near future, major developments in instrumentation will provide the tools for high-precision studies of its spacetime via observations of relativistic effects in stellar orbits, in the timing of pulsars, and in horizon-scale images of its accretion flow. In this talk, I will discuss the astrophysical complexities that may limit precise measurements of the black-hole properties with each technique and offer ways to overcome them. I will argue that, in the very near future, the mass, the spin, and the quadrupole moment of the black hole spacetime will be measured with a precision that will allow for the first direct test of the gravitational no-hair theorem.
