Jesse Kent

Status:

Mentor: 
Dr. Ohad Shemmer
Research Topic: 
Determining the Existence of BL LacertaeObjects at High Redshift
Abstract: 
Using previous publications of optically selected BL Lacertae(BLL) objects (e.g., see Plotkinet al. 2010) and more general open source databases such as the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) and the NASA Extragalactic Database (NED), we examined outliers within the BLL community and referenced them with the findings of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Our two main efforts were to: constrain the redshift distribution of BLL objects with emphasis on redshifts greater than 2, and to assess the reliability of BLL redshift determinations at redshifts greater than 2. Starting with a grouping of over one thousand BLL objects we narrowed down our selection to 5 that met our criteria and matched with Fermi detections.
Alma Mater: 
B.S. Physics | University of North Texas 2017