Bechtold, Jill AST 96-17060 Dr. Bechtold will continue several programs to study the nature of distant quasars and the intergalactic and interstellar gas which lies along the line-of-sight to them. Observations will be in multiple wavelengths, including optical, near-infrared, sub-millimeter, radio and X-ray. The continuum radiation provides clues to the physical conditions of the supermassive black hole and accretion disk. The emission lines provide further clues to the geometry and radiation field near the nucleus. By studying the quasars as a function of redshift, the evolution of the quasar population as a whole may be understood.
