RUI: Unification of Active Galaxies and Quasars: Radio and Optical Studies of a Complete Sample of Lobe-dominated Quasars

RUI：活动星系和类星体的统一：波瓣主导类星体完整样本的射电和光学研究

• 批准号: 9422075
• 负责人: David Hough
• 金额: $ 9.77万
• 依托单位: Trinity University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1995
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1995-02-15 至 1999-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9422075&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Unification; Active; Galaxies; Quasars

9422075 Hough Radio and optical studies of quasars will be carried out in order to contribute toward the unification of the physical models which describe the active galaxies and quasars. Quasars are thought to be young, distant, powerful galaxies that may harbor supermassive black holes in their central regions. However, they may be just an extreme example of the general phenomenon of active galaxies in which unusually large power output from the nuclear regions is observed. In order to test the various hypotheses that attempt to unite the theories about the quasars with other active galaxies - including BL Lac objects, radio galaxies, and Seyfert galaxies - a carefully selected, complete sample of twenty-five of the most powerful quasars known will be studied. Radio telescopes working in unison as interferometers will be used to Make radio wavelength images of the quasars, from their very centers to huge radio-emitting regions up to a million light-years away. The time sequences of images for the central regions will permit a study of apparent faster-than-light, or "superluminal", motion observed in these quasars. Optical observations will be made to obtain the spectra of the light emitted from these quasars, and hence we will learn something of the physical state of the gas surrounding the central object. The statistics of various radio and optical properties of these quasars will be used for rigorous tests of "unified models". The results of the observations may possibly be used to calculate the size and age of the universe. Additional observations, which will push the resolution limits of the radio astronomy techniques, will be carried out.

小行星9422075 将开展类星体的射电和光学研究，以促进描述活动星系和类星体的物理模型的统一。 类星体被认为是年轻、遥远、强大的星系，在它们的中心区域可能有超大质量黑洞。 然而，它们可能只是活动星系一般现象的一个极端例子，在这些活动星系中，观察到核区域异常大的能量输出。 为了检验试图将类星体理论与其他活动星系（包括BL Lac天体、射电星系和塞弗特星系）统一起来的各种假设，我们将对25个已知的最强大的类星体进行仔细挑选和完整的研究。 射电望远镜作为干涉仪协同工作，将被用来拍摄类星体的无线电波长图像，从它们的中心到100万光年远的巨大无线电发射区。中心区域图像的时间序列将允许研究在这些类星体中观察到的明显比光速或“超光速”运动。 我们将进行光学观测，以获得这些类星体发出的光的光谱，因此我们将了解围绕中心物体的气体的物理状态。 这些类星体的各种无线电和光学性质的统计数据将用于“统一模型”的严格测试。 观测结果可能被用来计算宇宙的大小和年龄。 将进行更多的观测，这将推动射电天文学技术的分辨率极限。