Presidential Young Investigator Award-Active Galactic Nuclei and Supernovae

总统青年研究员奖——活跃星系核和超新星

• 批准号: 8957063
• 负责人: Alexei Filippenko
• 金额: $ 22.36万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1989
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1989-07-01 至 1995-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8957063&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Presidential; Young; Investigator; Award; Active

The physical conditions and processes that occur in quasars (QSOs), active galaxies, supernovae, and X-ray binary stars will be investigated from an observational point of view, coupled with theoretical calculations. Much of the research will involve the development of sophisticated image processing data analysis techniques, as well as accurate numerical models of accretion disks and ionized gases. In some cases the methods may become applicable to many non- astronomical research areas. One of the main goals is to determine whether nearby galaxies are in any way related to luminous QSOs. It is generally believed that QSOs derive their energy from matter accreting onto supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies. If so, it is likely that at least some local galaxies are "dead" QSOs, and therefore harbor such black holes in their nuclei. Similarly, the QSO phenomenon may occur at a low intrinsic level in some galaxies even if thy were not luminous QSOs in the past. High-quality optical spectra of the nuclei of 500 bright, nearby galaxies, observed during the past few years will be analyzed. After careful removal of the underlying stellar continuum and absorption lines, faint emission lines are usually visible. The study of supernovae (SNe) will also be carried out. A long series of photometric optical spectra of every bright SN accessible to northern telescopes will be used in statistical studies (progenitor stars, correlations with environment, etc.). Comparison with the predictions of theoretical models should shed light on the chemical composition and excitation mechanism of the expanding gas as well as on the nature of the stellar explosion. There will be an attempt to determine the physical characteristics of X-ray binaries, which often show interesting parallels with active galactic nuclei. One of the most important questions is whether the central object in SS 433 is a black hole or a neutron star. The nature of the accretion disk, and the mechanism by which it undergoes forced precession, are also outstanding problems that should be solved.

将从观测的角度结合理论计算来研究类星体（QSO）、活动星系、超新星和X射线双星中发生的物理条件和过程。 大部分研究将涉及复杂图像处理数据分析技术的开发，以及吸积盘和电离气体的精确数值模型。 在某些情况下，这些方法可能适用于许多非天文学研究领域。 主要目标之一是确定附近的星系是否与发光 QSO 有任何关系。 人们普遍认为 QSO 的能量来自于星系中心超大质量黑洞的吸积物质。 如果是这样，那么很可能至少有一些本地星系是“死的”QSO，因此在它们的核中隐藏着这样的黑洞。 类似地，在某些星系中，即使过去不是发光的 QSO，QSO 现象也可能发生在较低的本征能级。 将分析过去几年观测到的 500 个明亮附近星系的原子核的高质量光谱。 仔细去除下面的恒星连续谱和吸收线后，通常可以看到微弱的发射线。 超新星（SNe）的研究也将进行。 北方望远镜可观测到的每个明亮超新星的一系列光度光谱将用于统计研究（祖星、与环境的相关性等）。 与理论模型预测的比较应该有助于揭示膨胀气体的化学成分和激发机制以及恒星爆炸的本质。 我们将尝试确定 X 射线双星的物理特征，这些特征通常与活跃的星系核有有趣的相似之处。 最重要的问题之一是 SS 433 的中心物体是黑洞还是中子星。 吸积盘的性质及其受迫进动的机制也是亟待解决的突出问题。