We use the SPace Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) project as a template to demonstrate how deep spectrophotometric surveys covering large cosmological volumes over extended fields (1– $15\, \rm{deg^2}$ ) with a mid-IR imaging spectrometer (17– $36\, \rm{\rm{\upmu m}}$ ) in conjunction with deep $70\, \rm{\rm{\upmu m}}$ photometry with a far-IR camera, at wavelengths which are not affected by dust extinction can answer the most crucial questions in current galaxy evolution studies. A SPICA-like mission will be able for the first time to provide an unobscured three-dimensional (3D, i.e. x, y, and redshift z) view of galaxy evolution back to an age of the universe of less than $\sim$ 2 Gyrs, in the mid-IR rest frame. This survey strategy will produce a full census of the Star Formation Rate (SFR) in the universe, using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) bands and fine-structure ionic lines, reaching the characteristic knee of the galaxy luminosity function, where the bulk of the population is distributed, at any redshift up to $z \sim 3.5$ . Deep follow-up pointed spectroscopic observations with grating spectrometers onboard the satellite, across the full IR spectral range (17– $210\, \rm{\rm{\upmu m}}$ ), would simultaneously measure Black Hole Accretion Rate (BHAR), from high-ionisation fine-structure lines, and SFR, from PAH and low- to mid-ionisation lines in thousands of galaxies from solar to low metallicities, down to the knee of their luminosity functions. The analysis of the resulting atlas of IR spectra will reveal the physical processes at play in evolving galaxies across cosmic time, especially its heavily dust-embedded phase during the activity peak at the cosmic noon ( $z \sim 1$ –3), through IR emission lines and features that are insensitive to the dust obscuration.

In an effort to better constrain the relevant physical processes dictating the co-evolution of supermassive black holes and the galaxies in which they reside we turn to local Seyfert AGN. It is only with these local AGN that we can reach the spatial resolution needed to adequately characterize the inflow and outflow mechanisms thought to be the driving forces in establishing the relationship between black holes and their host galaxies at higher redshift. We present the first results from the KONA (Keck OSIRIS Nearby AGN) survey, which takes advantage of the integral field unit OSIRIS plus laser and natural guide star adaptive optics to probe down to scales of 5-30 parsecs in a sample of 40 local Seyfert galaxies. With these K-band data we measure the two-dimensional distribution and kinematics of the nuclear stars, molecular gas, and ionized gas within the central few hundred parsecs.

We study the mass–metallicity relation and fundamental relation (FMR) for infrared bright galaxies (IR galaxies) at z ~ 0.9 discovered by AKARI NEP-Deep survey. The main result of this work is that metallicity of IR galaxies surprisingly match optical selected galaxies at a given mass even their star formation rates are different, which may imply that optical and IR selected galaxies follow similar star formation histories, and the starbursts in the IR galaxies do not give a strong impact in changing metallicity because of the short duration time.

In the present-day universe, the global properties of bulges and early-type galaxies correlate with the mass of their central black holes, indicating a connection between galaxy evolution and nuclear activity. Understanding the origin of this relation is a major challenge for cosmological models. Using Keck spectra and HST images, we present direct measurements of the correlations between black hole mass and host spheroid luminosity and velocity dispersion at z=0.36, showing that the relations evolved significantly in the past 4 billion years. It appears that black holes of a few 108 M⊙ completed their growth before their host galaxies, and that the current scaling relations are only the final point of the co-evolution of galaxies and black holes.

We present preliminary results of two monitoring projects on AGNs and BL Lacs with four intermediate-band optical filters at Lick Observatory, South African Astronomical Observatory, and Siding Spring Observatory. We applied differential photometry between the target and non-variable field stars to derive the variability amplitudes. All the AGNs varied in all wavebands, with amplitudes from 30% to 90%. The variations in shorter wavelength filters are always larger than in longer wavelength filters. We did not observe significant continuum slope changes. Continuum variations of BL Lacs up to 0.2 mag in 20 minutes were observed. Interestingly, we found a time lag of 6–8 minutes between two seemingly correlated variations observed in the intermediate U band with the 1-m telescope and in broad V band with the 24-in. telescope at SSO.

We present preliminary results of a one year monitoring campaign of a sample of active galactic nuclei. We discuss the implications of the observed variations and colour changes in terms of accretion disk models.

We present new and archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of circumnuclear star-forming rings in barred spiral galaxies. We find that nuclear rings in barred galaxies are composed of large numbers of super star clusters similar to those found recently in other types of starburst systems. In NGC 1097 and NGC 6951, the young clusters have absolute magnitudes of up to Mv = −14 or −15, depending on highly uncertain extinction corrections, and effective radii of 2–3 pc. The images (especially that of NGC 6951) also show intricate spiral dust lane structure interior to the rings.

The observed strong UV/Optical excess in many Seyfert 1 galactic nuclei and quasars (QSOs) is well described as thermal radiation from the surface of an optically thick accretion disk surrounding a supermassive black hole (Malkan 1983, Sun and Malkan 1989). This scenario naturally leads to a radially symmetric temperature gradient with the innermost regions the hottest. Thus for a perturbation generated in the inner regions propagating outward, sequential variations from higher to lower frequencies should be expected, aside from the bolometric increase of brightness. However, the extremely intensive International AGN watch (Peterson 1993 and references therein) on NGC 5548 and UV/Optical monitoring campaign on Mkn 335 (Sun et al. 1995) point to opposite conclusions on the time lag between UV and Optical continua, with no lag for NGC 5548 and ∼ 50 days for Mkn 335. We thus began two monitoring programs at Lick Observatory and Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatory (MSSSO) on a sample of Seyfert 1 galaxies with CCD direct imaging to search for more conclusive evidence on the sequential variabilities.

We report on the results of a UV-Optical spectral monitoring of the bright Seyfert 1 galactic nuclei Mkn 335. This campaign began in June, 1989, and ended in June, 1991. Ultraviolet spectra of fourteen epochs at nearly uniform sampling of 30-day intervals, except when the object was inaccessible from the IUE satellite, have been obtained, of which twelve were coordinated with quasi-simultaneous ground-based optical observations made at Lick Observatory.

Since broad line variations can, in principle, constrain the structure and kinematics of the broad line region in active galaxies we have conducted a monitoring program of 20 Seyfert galaxies over a 5 year period in order to study broad line flux and profile changes. Included in our sample is the Seyfert 1.5 galaxy NGC 5548. Fifteen observations were taken from 1979 to 1984 mainly with the 60″ Palomar telescope and a SIT vidicon spectrograph. Measurements show (Fig. 1) that both the Hβ and Hγ line flux varied by 200% and the continuum varied by 300%. Furthermore, these changes were positively correlated as one would expect from photoionization by a central continuum source.

Geometrically thin and optically thick accretion disk models which use non-LTE stellar atmospheres predict a Lyman absorption edge near 912Å in the quasar rest frame (Sun and Malkan 1987; Sun 1987). The detailed spectral shapes around the Lyman limit have been calculated for both Kerr and Schwarzschild metrics. The Lyman absorption edge, especially in the (more realistic) Kerr case, is markedly distorted and displaced by the relativistic effects of the strong gravitational field of the black hole and the large Doppler motions of the disk surface. Figure 1 shows a Kerr disk model accreting at 10% of its Eddington luminosity (LEdd), typical for quasars, viewed from five different angles.