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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Department of Astronomy

Yue Shen

Professor

Research Interests

Observational Cosmology
Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei
Galaxy Formation and Evolution
Surveys and Time-Domain Science

Research Description

I am an extragalactic observer. I mainly work on a range of topics centered on quasars and supermassive black holes (SMBHs), to understand the physics and evolution of these exotic objects in the cosmological context. Specifically, I work on the large-scale structure traced by quasars, the demography of SMBHs as a function of cosmic time, the phenomenology and physics of black hole accretion, and the co-evolution of black holes and host galaxies. I use multi-wavelength survey data and dedicated observing programs to carry out these studies.

Education

Astronomy, PHD, Princeton University

Additional Campus Affiliations

Professor, Astronomy
Professor, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)

Recent Publications

Beard, M. W. J., MᶜHardy, I. M., Horne, K., Cackett, E. M., Vincentelli, F., Santisteban, J. V. H., Miller, J., Dhillon, V. S., Knapen, J. H., Littlefair, S. P., Kynoch, D., Breedt, E., Shen, Y., & Gelbord, J. (2025). Testing disc reprocessing models for AGN optical variability by comparison of X-ray and optical power spectra of NGC 4395. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 537(1), 293-305. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf014

Dalla Bontà, E., Peterson, B. M., Grier, C. J., Berton, M., Brandt, W. N., Ciroi, S., Corsini, E. M., Dalla Barba, B., Davies, R., Dehghanian, M., Edelson, R., Foschini, L., Gasparri, D., Ho, L. C., Horne, K., Iodice, E., Morelli, L., Pizzella, A., Portaluri, E., ... Vestergaard, M. (2025). Estimating masses of supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei from the H α emission line. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 696, Article A48. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202452746

Ishikawa, Y., Zakamska, N. L., Shen, Y., Liu, X., Chen, Y. C., Hwang, H. C., Vayner, A., Rupke, D. S. N., Veilleux, S., Wylezalek, D., Gross, A. C., Sankar, S., & Diachenko, N. (2025). VODKA-JWST: Synchronized Growth of Two Supermassive Black Holes in a Massive Gas Disk? A 3.8 kpc Separation Dual Quasar at Cosmic Noon with the NIRSpec Integral Field Unit. Astrophysical Journal, 982(1), Article 22. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb4ee

Li, J., Silverman, J. D., Shen, Y., Volonteri, M., Jahnke, K., Zhuang, M. Y., Scoggins, M. T., Ding, X., Harikane, Y., Onoue, M., & Tanaka, T. S. (2025). Tip of the Iceberg: Overmassive Black Holes at 4 < z < 7 Found by JWST Are Not Inconsistent with the Local MBH-M* Relation. Astrophysical Journal, 981(1), Article 19. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada603

Nandra, K., Waddell, S. G. H., Liu, T., Buchner, J., Dwelly, T., Salvato, M., Shen, Y., Wu, Q., Arcodia, R., Boller, T., Brunner, H., Brusa, M., Collmar, W., Comparat, J., Georgakakis, A., Grau, M., Hämmerich, S., Ibarra-Medel, H., Igo, Z., ... Rix, H. W. (2025). The eROSITA Final Equatorial Depth Survey (eFEDS): The hard X-ray selected sample. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 693, Article A212. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202449416

View all publications on Illinois Experts

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Department of Astronomy

Front Office Hours: Daily 8:00AM-4:30PM

1002 W. Green Street

Urbana, IL 61801

217-333-3090

Email: astronomy@illinois.edu

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