Research Activities

My primary research is concerned with the astrophysics of gaseous nebulae in a variety of environments ranging from the regions immediately surrounding active galactic nuclei to nearby low-luminosity HII regions. This work includes studies of how active galactic nuclei interact with their immediate host galaxy environment, the photometric and spectroscopic analysis of star formation activity in galaxies ranging from nearly quiescent S0 galaxies to nuclear starburst galaxies, and the mapping of the structure and ionization properties of Galactic gaseous nebulae at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. This work has been done with a number of ground-based and spaceborne observatories, including recently the Hubble Space Telescope and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE).

In the course of this work, I have developed a number of techniques for performing quantitative imaging spectrophotometry that bring together traditional long-slit spectroscopy, narrowband filter imaging (at visual and near-IR wavelengths), and imaging Fabry-Perot spectroscopy into a general toolkit for studying nebulae in both spatial and spectral detail.

I also devote about half of my time to developing instrumentation for imaging and spectroscopy at visible and infrared wavelengths. My first instrument was the recently de-commissioned Imaging Fabry-Perot Spectrometer (IFPS) for use on the 1.8-meter Perkins Telescope in Flagstaff. I have also been involved in the development of OSIRIS (Ohio State InfraRed Imager/Spectrometer which is now deployed as a facility instrument at CTIO, MOSAIC/TIFKAM an IR imager/spectrometer for MDM, the ANDICAM and DANDICAM CCD+IR dual-channel imagers deployed at CTIO and SAAO, and a CCD camera system deployed at the Perth Observatory in Western Australia. The last three instruments are being used by the PLANET Collaboration to study gravitational microlensing anomalies (including a search for extrasolar planets).

My most recent instrumentation project is MODS, a optical multi-object double spectrograph we are building for the Large Binocular Telescope. Other projects include the Ohio State University Bright Spiral Galaxy Survey and participation in the International AGN Watch Consortium.

And I get to take lots of pretty pictures. Visit the Picture Gallery for a sampling.

Updated: 2001 January 21 [rwp]