Kinematic Signatures of Black Hole Growth in the Local Universe

该计划的目标是确定星系中心超大质量黑洞生长与它们所在星系的一般演化之间的关系。 这项工作将包括对这一主题采取多学科方法，包括对观测数据和星系模拟进行连贯分析，以提供对驱动局部宇宙中黑洞增长的机制的第一个重要限制。将在北方和南半球的世界领先的近红外望远镜上获得对塞弗特星系和不活跃星系的匹配样本的高空间分辨率积分场光谱观测。将在两个子样本中检查到秒差距尺度的一些属性，以确定那些是塞弗特星系所特有的，因此可能与黑洞生长有关。这些包括星际介质的分布、运动学和质量，核恒星盘的存在，以及这些恒星群与核星际介质的关系。更广泛的影响包括教师培训和参与华盛顿大学天文学专业预科项目（Pre-MAP）。该计划从传统上在科学领域代表性不足的群体中招募新生，并通过允许他们在丰富和支持的环境中探索该领域来促进天文学作为本科专业。

The goal of this program is to determine the relationship between supermassive black hole growth in the centers of galaxies, and the general evolution of the galaxies in which they reside. The work will comprise a multi-disciplinary approach to this topic involving a cohesive analysis of observational data and galaxy simulations to provide the first significant constraints on the mechanisms driving black hole growth in the local universe. High spatial resolution integral field spectroscopic observations of a matched sample of Seyfert and inactive galaxies will be obtained on the world's leading near-infrared telescopes in both the northern and southern hemispheres. A number of properties will be examined down to parsec scales in the two subsamples to identify those that are unique to Seyfert galaxies and are thus likely to be associated with black hole growth. These include the distribution, kinematics, and mass of the interstellar medium, the presence of a nuclear stellar disk, and how this stellar population relates to the nuclear interstellar medium.Broader impacts include teacher training and participation in the University of Washington Pre-Major in Astronomy Program (Pre-MAP). This program recruits incoming students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in science and promotes astronomy as an undergraduate major by allowing them to explore the field in an enriching and supportive environment.