ABSTRACT 9501835 Kay, Laura This award is made under the auspices of the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program. As a CAREER awardee the investigator is expected to pursue an active education plan in addition to her scientific research project. Optical spectropolarimetry is a powerful technique for studying the wavelength dependence of the polarization of continuum and spectral line radiation in astronomical objects. Dr. Kay uses this technique to investigate the nature of active galactic nuclei (AGN). She will observe a class of broad-line radio galaxies with double-peaked emission lines that are suggestive of the presence of accretion disks. High quality spectropolarimetric data of such objects could add support to accretion disk models of AGN. Within her education effort, Dr. Kay will place special emphasis on involving women undergraduates at her institution in research. *** ??
