This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
The investigators will carry out high spatial resolution mid-infrared imaging, spectroscopy, and polarimetry of nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN), taking advantage of the subarcsecond, diffraction limited resolution afforded by 8-10m telescopes to probe the inner regions of AGN. The main goal is to elucidate the spectral energy distribution (i.e., the brightness versus wavelength) of the circumnuclear gas/dust torus in the infrared region, and compare the data to detailed models for this emission. The group has substantial guaranteed time using their polarimetric camera CanariCam on the 10.4m-diameter Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC).
Broader impacts of this program include developing international collaborations, archival data release, bilingual outreach, and training of graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher. The research will enhance our understanding of the environs of active galactic nuclei, particularly the torus thought to block the light from the central region depending on orientation.
