Outflows and AGN in the Nuclei of Merging Galaxies, Viewed with Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics

类星体是宇宙中最明亮的物体。活动星系核(AGN)是类星体的动力源，可以让整个宿主星系黯然失色。在它们被发现后的50多年里，出现了一幅类星体的图片，它是一个居住在大星系中心或附近的超大质量黑洞。银河系中的星际气体，可能是恒星在接近黑洞的轨道上运行时受到潮汐作用力破坏的残留物，落入黑洞，在这样做的过程中被加热到非常高的温度，并在广泛的波长范围内发射出丰富的辐射。在气体流入的同时，类星体将气体赶出核区也是显而易见的。星系演化中的一个悬而未决的问题是，从类星体流出的物质在多大程度上驱逐了星际介质，从而在宿主星系中熄灭了恒星的形成。这一效应可能会对宇宙早期星系的发展产生重大影响。这个项目将使用新开发的成像和光谱技术来详细研究附近的活动星系，以深入了解外流是如何和从哪里驱动的。它还将研究活动星系的一个子样本，这些星系的中心可能有两个活动核。此外，它还将为毛伊岛上已建立的劳动力发展计划和加利福尼亚州的教师培训计划做出贡献。多条证据表明，早期宇宙中的类星体驱动着大规模的银河系外流，将其所在星系中的大部分星际介质驱逐出去。这些外流是熄灭恒星形成、限制黑洞吸积所必需的，并产生了观察到的中央黑洞S质量和星系膨胀特性之间的关系。如果没有它们，就很难解释当地“红而死”的大质量星系的古老恒星数量和低气体含量，以及它们在大质量时数量急剧下降的原因。对于高红移星系，很难详细研究外流过程，因为这些星系的表观尺寸很小，通量很弱。这个项目将研究附近类星体和发光红外星系(0.01 z 0.15)的核外流物理过程，使用激光导星自适应光学与积分场光谱仪相结合，可以绘制宿主星系10-100pC尺度的发射线和吸收线图。从近红外观测得出的流出特性将与其他波长的观测结果进行比较，包括赫歇尔卫星、ALMA、CARMA和SMA的分子观测，以及使用积分场光谱仪(如双子座的GMOS仪器)进行的可见光观测。该项目还将包括来自斯隆数字巡天的活动星系核的观测，其双[O III]发射线位于0.2 z 0.6，以确定流出并将其与双活动核区分开来。

Quasars are the most luminous objects in the universe. The active galactic nucleus (AGN) that is the quasar's powerhouse can outshine its entire host galaxy. In the more than fifty years since their discovery, a picture has emerged of a quasar as a supermassive black hole residing at or near the center of a large galaxy. Interstellar gas in the galaxy, perhaps the residue of stars disrupted by tidal forces as they orbit close to the black hole, falls into the black hole and in doing so is heated to very high temperatures and emits copious radiation over a wide range of wavelengths. Along with the gas inflow, it is also clear that quasars drive gas out of the nuclear region. An outstanding question in the evolution of galaxies is to what extent the outflow from a quasar expels the interstellar medium, thereby quenching star formation in the host galaxy. This effect could have a strong influence on the development of galaxies at early times in the universe. This project will use newly-developed imaging and spectroscopic techniques to study nearby active galaxies in fine detail to gain insights as to how and from where the outflow is driven. It will also study a sub-sample of active galaxies that may have double active nuclei at their centers. In addition, it will contribute to an established workforce development program on Maui and a teacher training program in California.Multiple lines of evidence suggest that quasars in the early universe drive massive galactic outflows that expel much of the interstellar medium in their host galaxies. These outflows are needed to quench star formation, limit black hole accretion, and give rise to observed relationships between the central black hole?s mass and properties of the galaxy's bulge. Without them, it is difficult to explain the old stellar population and low gas content of local "red and dead" massive galaxies, as well as their steeply declining number at high masses. For high-redshift galaxies it is difficult to study outflow processes in detail, because the galaxies have small apparent sizes and faint fluxes. This project will study the physical processes of nuclear outflows for nearby quasars and luminous infrared galaxies (0.01 z 0.15), using laser guide star adaptive optics coupled with integral field spectrographs which can map emission and absorption lines on scales of 10 - 100 pc in the host galaxy. The outflow characteristics thereby deduced from observations in the near-infrared will be compared to those at other wavelengths, including molecular observations by the Herschel satellite, ALMA, CARMA, and the SMA, and visible observations with integral field spectrographs such as Gemini's GMOS instrument. The project will also include observations of active galactic nuclei from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with dual [O III] emission lines at 0.2 z 0.6 to identify outflows and distinguish them from dual active nuclei.