Adaptive Optics: Observations and Prospects for Studies of Active Galactic Nuclei
arXiv:0806.0468 · doi:10.1016/j.newar.2008.06.002
Abstract
These lectures take a look at how observations with adaptive optics (AO) are beginning to influence our understanding of active galactic nuclei (AGN). By focussing on a few specific topics, the aim is to highlight the different ways in which enhanced spatial resolution from AO can aid the scientific analysis of AGN data. After presenting some background about how AO works, I will describe a few recent observations made with AO of QSO host galaxies, the Galactic Center, and nearby AGN, and show how they have contributed to our knowledge of these enigmatic objects.
Accepted for NewAR in proceedings of "Active Galactic Nuclei at the highest angular resolution: theory and observations", 2007 summer school, Torun, Poland. A version with high resolution colour figures is available from http://www.mpe.mpg.de/~davies/Davies_AGN_AO.pdf