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）是类星体的发电站，它的亮度可以超过整个宿主星系。自发现以来的五十多年里，类星体的图片已经出现，它是一个位于大星系中心或附近的超大质量黑洞。星系中的星际气体，可能是恒星在靠近黑洞的轨道上被潮汐力破坏的残余物，福尔斯落入黑洞，并在此过程中被加热到非常高的温度，并在很宽的波长范围内发出丰富的辐射。沿着气体的流入，类星体将气体赶出核区域也是很清楚的。星系演化中一个突出的问题是，类星体的外流在多大程度上驱逐了星际介质，从而淬灭了宿主星系中星星的形成。 这种效应可能对宇宙早期星系的发展产生强烈影响。 该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，以了解外流是如何以及从何处驱动的。 它还将研究活动星系的子样本，这些星系的中心可能有双活动核。 此外，它还将为毛伊岛的一个既定劳动力发展方案和加州的一个教师培训方案作出贡献。多条证据表明，早期宇宙中的类星体驱动着大量的星系外流，驱逐了宿主星系中的大部分星际介质。这些外流需要淬火星星的形成，限制黑洞吸积，并引起观察到的中央黑洞？的质量和性质的星系的隆起。 如果没有它们，就很难解释古老的恒星数量和局部“红色和死亡”的大质量星系的低气体含量，以及它们在高质量时急剧下降的数量。对于高红移星系，要详细研究外流过程是很困难的，因为星系的视尺寸很小，通量也很微弱。本项目将利用激光引导星星自适应光学系统和积分场摄谱仪研究邻近类星体和亮红外星系（0.01 z 0.15）核流出的物理过程，积分场摄谱仪可以绘制宿主星系10 - 100 pc尺度的发射和吸收谱线。因此，从近红外观测中推导出的外流特性将与其他波长的观测结果进行比较，这些波长包括赫歇尔卫星、阿尔马、CARMA和SMA的分子观测，以及用积分场摄谱仪（如双子座的GMOS仪器）进行的可见光观测。该项目还将包括从斯隆数字巡天观测活动星系核，在0.2 z 0.6处具有双[O III]发射线，以识别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.