Probing the Central Engine of Active Galactic Nuclei

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)确定宽阔发射线区域的结构和运动学。这将通过一个积极的90夜混响测绘计划来实现，该计划旨在恢复6到8个明亮的塞弗特1星系宽线区域的高保真速度延迟图。作为宽线区域结构的独立探头，将使用一个互补的光谱偏振测量程序。这项研究将有助于更好地理解用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-延迟图将对宽发射线区域的结构和运动学提供有史以来最强的约束，并可能导致唯一的解决方案。即使这一雄心壮志没有实现，这些观测肯定会改善几个黑洞质量目前尚不清楚的来源的测量结果。多个机构的几名研究生将接受观察员培训。该项目通过混响计划(英国、乌克兰和日本)、宿主星系速度色散计划(德国和加拿大)和光谱偏振计划(英国和智利)促进国际合作。混响计划展示了较小的望远镜如何仍然可以执行高影响的科学。

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.