Gregory A. Shields

	Department of Astronomy	RLM 15.220
	Campus mail code: C1400	Office Hours: TBA
	University of Texas	(512) 471-1402
	Austin, TX 78712	E-mail: shields@astro.as.utexas.edu

Welcome to my homepage. I am the Jane and Roland Blumberg Centennial Professor in Astronomy, and I have been at UT since 1974. I am currently serving as Chairman of the Undergraduate Studies Committee for the Department of Astronomy. My main research interests are Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and H II regions. My work is largely theoretical, but I am involved in observing programs with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope and studies using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In recent years I have concentrated on using quasars to explore the relationship between black holes and their host galaxies, on the emitted spectrum of accretion disks, on binary quasars, and on recoiling black holes in quasars.

My talk at the Third Coast Astronomical Meeting May 8, 2008, is here.

The recent paper "Powerful Flares from Recoiling Black Holes in Quasars" (G. A. Shields and E. W. Bonning 2008, ApJ 682:758) discusses a numerical simulation of an accretion disk disrupted by a recoiling black hole. An animation of the numerical simulation is here.

In Fall 2009 I will teach AST 307 "Introductory Astronomy". This is a survey of the solar system, stars, galaxies, and cosmology for science and engineering students. There is more use of mathematics than in AST 301; high school trigonometry and physics are recommended. The required textbook is J. Bennett et al., "The Cosmic Perspective", Fourth Edition (2007, full version including the solar system, stars, and galaxies).

Follow these links to ANNOUNCEMENTS for AST 381 .

General

Highlights: Current activities and curriculum vitae and publications

Research

Highlights: Active Galactic Nuclei and H II Regions