Probing the Central Engine of Active Galactic Nuclei

探测活动星系核的中央引擎

• 批准号: 0604066
• 负责人: Bradley Peterson
• 金额: $ 36.1万
• 依托单位: Ohio State University Research Foundation -DO NOT USE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-07-01 至 2011-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0604066&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Probing; Central; Engine; Active; Galactic

AST-0604066PetersonThis project will explore the very inner structure of active galactic nuclei. It will (a) measure the masses of the central black holes and (b) determine the structure and kinematics of the broad emission-line region. This will be accomplished with an aggressive 90-night reverberation-mapping program designed to recover high-fidelity velocity-delay maps of the broad-line region in 6 to 8 bright Seyfert 1 galaxies. A complementary program of spectropolarimetry will be used as an independent probe of the broad-line region structure. This study will lead to a better understanding of the uncertainties in measurement of black hole masses by reverberation techniques, and to an understanding of accretion flows around super-massive black holes. Successful recovery of a velocity-delay map via reverberation will provide the strongest constraints ever on the structure and kinematics of the broad emission-line region, and could lead to a unique solution. Even if that ambition is not realized, these observations will certainly improve the measurements in several sources whose black hole masses are now poorly known.Several graduate students at multiple institutions will be trained as observers. The project fosters international collaboration through the reverberation program (United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Japan), the host galaxy velocity-dispersion program (Germany and Canada), and the spectropolarimetry program (United Kingdom and Chile). The reverberation program shows how smaller telescopes can still perform high impact science.

这个项目将探索活动星系核的内部结构。它将(a)测量中心黑洞的质量，(b)确定宽发射线区域的结构和运动学。这将通过一项积极的90夜混响测绘计划来完成，该计划旨在恢复6到8个明亮的塞弗特1星系中宽线区域的高保真速度延迟图。光谱偏振法的补充程序将被用作宽线区域结构的独立探针。这项研究将有助于更好地理解通过混响技术测量黑洞质量的不确定性，并有助于理解超大质量黑洞周围的吸积流。通过混响成功恢复速度延迟图将对宽发射在线区域的结构和运动学提供最强的约束，并可能导致唯一的解决方案。即使这一雄心没有实现，这些观测也肯定会改善对几个黑洞质量知之甚少的源的测量。多个机构的几名研究生将被训练为观察员。该项目通过混音计划（英国、乌克兰和日本）、宿主星系速度色散计划（德国和加拿大）和光谱偏振计计划（英国和智利）促进国际合作。混响项目显示了小型望远镜仍然可以进行高冲击科学。