Red Quasars and Quasar/Galaxy Evolution

类星体是一种神秘的天体。它们比1000亿颗像太阳一样的恒星还要亮，但它们距离我们太远了，在我们的夜空中显得非常微弱。我们用大型望远镜研究它们，比如位于夏威夷莫纳克亚山山顶的凯克天文台。像这样的测量表明，类星体是非常巨大的黑洞，周围环绕着被黑洞巨大引力拉入黑洞的热气。随着距离黑洞越来越近，落入黑洞的气体速度越来越快。这会产生极高的热量，使黑洞周围的气体比整个充满恒星的星系更亮。被明亮的发光气体包围的黑洞就是我们所说的类星体。它们生活在所有像我们银河系这样的大型星系的中心，但只是在星系生命的某些早期阶段，当有大量气体可供落入黑洞时。相反，一些试图落入黑洞的气体由于强烈的热量和辐射而以高速喷出。这就产生了一股强大的风，传遍了整个星系。该项目将研究一组特殊的类星体，它们看起来非常年轻，非常明亮，具有极强的风，可能会改变它们周围星系的生长和发展。项目目标是了解类星体的强风是如何产生的，然后研究这些风对周围星系的影响。另一个重要的目标是将该项目获得的数据转化为音乐，用于我们当地社区的科学教育和推广。类星体是遥远的路标，标志着大星系生长和发展的重要事件。类星体产生的光能相当于1000亿个太阳，这是由于物质在福尔斯落入大质量黑洞时升温。它们位于年轻星系的深处，这些星系本身从周围环境中获得质量，并迅速制造恒星。由尘埃遮蔽（类似于红色日落）引起的红色类星体被认为是星系形成的关键过渡阶段，介于最初的尘埃“爆发”星星形成和最终出现正常的蓝色（未被遮蔽）类星体之间。由类星体和/或伴随的恒星爆发驱动的强大外流被认为在这个过渡阶段至关重要，为周围环境提供“反馈”，调节黑洞吸积的数量，破坏周围星系中星星的形成，并排出宿主星系的大部分气体和尘埃。该项目描述了一个为期3年的计划，1）研究红色类星体和类星体流出/反馈，以测试类星体和星系形成之间的进化联系，2）追求一个令人兴奋的新途径，公众宣传的基础上，天文数据的声化。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Part 1Quasars are mysterious astronomical objects. They are brighter than 100 billion stars like our Sun, but so far away that they appear very faint in our nighttime sky. We study them with large telescopes, like the ones at the Keck Observatory on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Measurements like that show that quasars are very massive black holes surrounded by hot gas that is being pulled into the black hole by the hole's enormous gravity. The gas falling into the black hole goes faster and faster the closer it gets. This produces extreme heat that makes the gas around the black hole glow brighter than an entire galaxy full of stars. The black hole surrounded by bright glowing gas is what we call a quasar. They live in the centers of all large galaxies like our Milky Way, but only at certain early times in a galaxy's life when there is a lot of gas available to fall into the black hole. Some of the gas trying to fall into the black hole is, instead, ejected at high speeds due to the intense heat and radiation. This produces a powerful wind that spreads across the galaxy. This project will study a particular group of quasars that appear to be very young and very bright, with extremely powerful winds that might alter the growth and development of the galaxies around them. Project goals are to understand how the powerful winds from quasars are created, and then study the effects those winds have on the surrounding galaxies. Another important goal is to turn the data obtained for this project into music that will be used for science education and outreach in our local communities. Part 2Quasars are distant signposts that mark important episodes in the growth and development of large galaxies. Quasars produce the light energy of a 100 billion Suns due to matter heating up as it falls into a massive black hole. They deep inside young galaxies that are, themselves, gaining mass from their surroundings and rapidly making stars. Quasars with red colors caused by dust obscuration (similar to red sunsets) are believed to identify a critical transition phase in galaxy formation between the initial dusty "burst" of star formation and the eventual emergence of normal blue (unobscured) quasars. Powerful outflows driven by the quasars and/or the accompanying starbursts are thought to be critically important during this transition phase, providing "feedback" to the surroundings that regulates the amounts of black hole accretion, disrupts star formation in the surrounding galaxy, and expels much of the host galaxy's gas and dust. This project describes a 3-year program to 1) study red quasars and quasar outflows/feedback to test the evolutionary links between quasars and galaxy formation, and 2) pursue an exciting new avenue of public outreach based on the sonification of astronomical data.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.