Greg Taylor, Distinguished Professor

Director of the Center for Astrophysical Research and Technologies

 
Research Interests:

Active galaxies emit copious amounts of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum from radio to gamma rays and also produce spectacular jets of emission. The activity originates from supermassive black holes that are accreting material at the center of the host galaxy. I am engaged in detailed radio observations to probe the environment of these systems and to trace their evolution. Observations with the Long Wavelength Array (LWA), currently under construction (see below) will give us a new look at active galaxies, their environs, and acceleration mechanisms. A study currently underway is the Very Long Baseline Array imaging and Polarimetry Survey (VIPS) which is imaging 1000 new sources at high resolution, providing a wealth of information about the environments in a range of evolutionary stages. I am an affiliated scientist with the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) which will revolutionize our view of active galaxies at the highest frequencies. I'm also interested in other high-energy astrophysical phenomena such as those that produce gamma-ray bursts and the giant flares from magnetars.

Director of the Long Wavelength Array

The LWA will explore the universe at frequencies in the range 20-80 MHz with arcsecond level resolution and mJy level sensitivity. Consisting of ~50 stations spread across New Mexico, the LWA will make crucial measurements of supernova remnants, gamma-ray bursts, active galaxies, and clusters of galaxies. The first station, the Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array, is currently under construction and will be located near the VLA. The LWA is a project of the SouthWest Consortium consisting of the University of New Mexico, the University of Texas at Austin, the Naval Research Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory and with assistance from NRAO and individual researchers across the US.

Homepage: http://www.phys.unm.edu/~gbtaylor/