C. Westhues
Papers
7
Total Citations
238
H-Index
6
About
C. Westhues is an observational astronomer whose research has made significant contributions to the study of active galactic nuclei (AGN), particularly through the development and application of photometric reverberation mapping techniques. Working primarily with robotic telescopes at the Universitätssternwarte Bochum near Cerro Armazones in Chile, Westhues has helped establish photometric reverberation mapping as a practical and efficient method for measuring the size of broad-line regions (BLR), estimating supermassive black hole masses, and determining host-subtracted AGN luminosities. Their most influential work, a 2011 methodological paper on photometric AGN reverberation mapping, has garnered 99 citations and laid the groundwork for subsequent observational campaigns targeting individual AGN systems, including 3C 120, ESO 399-IG20, PGC 50427, and WPVS48. These studies collectively demonstrate the power of combining broad- and narrow-band photometry to probe the geometry and physics of AGN central engines. Westhues also contributed to the development of observational infrastructure, including the 40 cm Bochum Monitoring Telescope and a solar-powered observatory facility in the Atacama Desert. With over 200 cumulative citations, their body of work represents a meaningful advance in time-domain AGN astronomy.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Photometric reverberation mapping of 3C 12051 citations · 2012
- 3Size and disk-like shape of the broad-line region of ESO 399-IG2029 citations · 2013
- 4The broad-line region and dust torus size of the Seyfert 1 galaxy PGC 5042723 citations · 2015
- 5Dust reverberation-mapping of the Seyfert 1 galaxy WPVS4816 citations · 2014
- 6The 40 cm Monitoring Telescope of the Universitätssternwarte Bochum16 citations · 2013
- 7A green observatory in the Chilean Atacama desert4 citations · 2016