ABSTRACT 9409130 KAY, Laura In 'unified models' of Active Galactic Nuclei, orientation effects play a large role in determining what we see and thus how we classify a given object. One of the missing pieces in these models is the identification of Narrow-Line (Type 2) QSO's. Optical spectropolarimetry has been used successfully to show that some Type 2 AGN are in fact obscured Type 1 (Broad and Narrow-Line)AGN. For this project, the principal investigator will use spectropolarimetry to study 'superluminous' and ultraluminous' Type 2 AGN identified by IRAS to see if some of them harbor a Type I QSO nucleus identifiable only in scattered, and thus polarized, light. If a collection of such obscured quasars is identified, then complementary observations in infrared and possibly with HST will be planned. Undergraduate students from Barnard College will participate in this project through independent study during the academic year or as summer students.
