Observation and Analysis of Long-Term Optical Variations of Active Galactic Nuclei

佛罗里达大学的教职员工和学生正在为了解宇宙中最神秘的物体--遥远的类星体和相关的活动星系--做出贡献。最终目标是理解一个类星体的过程，它的体积与我们微小的太阳系相当，产生的能量是银河系等巨大星系的100倍。这个谜团的解开无疑将极大地有助于我们理解星系本身的发展。由于变异性研究长期以来被认为是解决天体物理问题的有力工具，我们经常使用大学罗斯玛丽·希尔天文台的76厘米望远镜跟踪超过220个类星体和活动星系的不可预测的亮度变化。我们的许多工作是与其他天文台以及使用国际紫外线探测器和日本X射线卫星Ginga等航天器的科学家合作进行的。未来的合作包括由航天飞机进行的实验。为支持类星体观测而启动的摄影研究产生了提高摄影灵敏度的创新方法，这些方法已在世界各地得到采用；作为基础研究的“副产品”的例证，这些方法目前正被用于生物医学射线照相术以及工业和生物医学显微镜。将建造一台新的ccd相机并用于观测。

Faculty members and students at the University of Florida are contributing efforts to understand what are perhaps the most enigmatic objects in the Universe -- the remote quasars and related active galaxies. The ultimate objective is to comprehend the process that allows a quasar, within a volume comparable to that of our tiny Solar System, to generate 100 times the energy of a huge galaxy such as the Milky Way. Solution of this mystery undoubtedly will contribute greatly to our understanding of the development of the galaxies themselves. Because the study of variability has long been recognized as a powerful tool in attacking astrophysical problems, we regularly follow the unpredictable changes in brightness of over 220 quasars and active galaxies, using the 76-cm telescope of the University's Rosemary Hill Observatory. Much of our work is carried on in collaboration with other observatories and with scientists using spacecraft such as the International Ultraviolet Explorer and the Japanese x-ray satellite GINGA. Future collaborations involve experiments to be carried by the Space Shuttle. Photographic research initiated to support the quasar observations has resulted in innovative methods of increasing photographic sensitivity that have been adopted world-wide; as an illustration of "spin-off" from basic research, these methods are now being employed in biomedical radiography and in industrial and biomedical microscopy. A new CCD camera will be built and used for observations.