Relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei (AGN) are some of the most powerful particle accelerators in the universe.
Manel Errando, an assistant professor of physics in Arts & Sciences and a fellow of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has won a $375,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct studies of AGN with simultaneous TeV gamma-ray observations with VERITAS (the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope System at the Whipple Observatory in Arizona) and X-ray observations with the IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) satellite.
The team will complete and deliver a public legacy dataset of AGN observations, including the first unbiased survey of a flux-limited sample at TeV energies. This project also will create summer research internships for local high school students from St. Louis Public Schools and establish a network of regional science teachers and counselors to support student engagement in the STEM fields.
