Spectropolarimetry OF AGN: Ultraluminous and Superluminous IRAS Galaxies

KAY， Laura在活动星系核的“统一模型”中，方向效应在决定我们看到什么以及如何对给定物体进行分类方面起着很大的作用。这些模型中缺失的部分之一是窄线（2型）QSO的识别。光学光谱偏振法已经成功地证明了一些2型AGN实际上是模糊的1型AGN（宽窄线）。在这个项目中，首席研究员将使用光谱偏振法来研究IRAS识别的“超亮”和“超亮”2型AGN，看看其中一些是否含有只能在散射光中识别的I型QSO核，因此偏振光。如果这些被遮挡的类星体的集合被确定，那么将计划在红外和可能的HST中进行补充观测。巴纳德学院的本科生将在学年或暑期期间通过独立学习参与该项目。

ABSTRACT 9409130 KAY, Laura In 'unified models' of Active Galactic Nuclei, orientation effects play a large role in determining what we see and thus how we classify a given object. One of the missing pieces in these models is the identification of Narrow-Line (Type 2) QSO's. Optical spectropolarimetry has been used successfully to show that some Type 2 AGN are in fact obscured Type 1 (Broad and Narrow-Line)AGN. For this project, the principal investigator will use spectropolarimetry to study 'superluminous' and ultraluminous' Type 2 AGN identified by IRAS to see if some of them harbor a Type I QSO nucleus identifiable only in scattered, and thus polarized, light. If a collection of such obscured quasars is identified, then complementary observations in infrared and possibly with HST will be planned. Undergraduate students from Barnard College will participate in this project through independent study during the academic year or as summer students.