The Structure of the Broad-Line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei

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The variability of the broad emission lines in the spectra of active galactic nuclei reveals fundamental information about the structure and kinematics of the line-emitting region and about the nature of the central source that cannot be obtained in any other way. This program determines the structure and kinematics of the broad-line emitting regions in active galactic nuclei through repeated observations of a limited number of sources. We greatly improve the temporal resolution of our on-going monitoring project by making use of a Remote Observing Facility which has been developed for use with the Perkins 1.8 m telescope. Furthermore, the quality of the individual observations will be greatly improved through the use of a new CCD spectrograph. The CCD spectrograph is interfaced to the telescope with a fiber- optic feed which enables us to use the spectrograph for partial nights without a complete change of instrumentation at the Casse- grain focus of the telescope. This allows us to observe a few selected sources frequently with minimal impact on other scien- tific programs.