NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2010A-0244
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2010A-0244 |
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PI: William C. Keel, University of Alabama, wkeel@bama.ua.edu
Address: Physics Department, Box 870324, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
CoI: Kevin Schawinski, Yale University
CoI: Chris Lintott, Oxford University
CoI: Vardha Nicola Bennert, UC Santa Barbara
CoI: Millicent Maier, Gemini Observatory
Title: The Galaxy Zoo sample of AGN-ionized clouds - history and obscuration
Abstract:
AGN are capable of ionizing gas on large (often galaxy-wide) scales,
with the ionization often tracing a cone the parameters of which are
defined by the geometry of obscuring material near the nucleus.
Observing instances of such ionized gas thus provides information on the
extent of such obscuration as well as constraining the timescale for
strong variability of the AGN. The Galaxy Zoo project has found
approximately 100 new examples of strongly ionized gas in AGN, selected
via inspection of colour SDSS images. Many of these new examples are,
despite their lack of follow-up to date, as large and luminous as
anything in the literature. This proposal would obtain long-slit
spectra to confirm potentially ionized targets through the study of
emission from diagnostic lines. This results will provide a immediate
survey of the ionization mechanisms involved and hence the implied AGN
luminosity, but would also allow us to filter the source list for future
2D spectroscopy and X-ray observations.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2010A-0244 |
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