Title:  Placing High-Redshift Quasars in Perspective: a Gemini Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Survey

Abstract: I will present the results from a Gemini Large and Long Program that spread over seven observing semesters resulting in usable near-infrared spectroscopy of 260 quasars at redshifts between 1.5 and 3.5. These observations provided the largest uniform inventory of rest-frame ultraviolet-optical spectral properties for quasars at `cosmic noon', a treasure trove that will facilitate numerous quasar and cosmological studies. In this talk I will focus on two principal investigations that we are carrying out at UNT. The first involves improving ultraviolet-based redshift estimates for distant quasars, and the second involves improved estimates of the masses of supermassive black holes residing in the centers of quasars.

Astro Colloquium and 'coffee & cookies' Department gathering (3:30-3:45pm)

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