Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project 2: Program Overview

The AGN Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project 2 (STORM 2) program is a multiwavelength spectroscopic and photometric monitoring campaign of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 817. The campaign is built around a large HST program (PID:16196, 198 orbits), that observed Mrk817 in the UV with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph approximately once every two days for more than one calendar year. The HST data are supplemented by a wealth of additional observations, including high frequency space based X-ray and near-UV observations, as well as ground-based optical photometric and spectroscopic data. The main aim of this intensive monitoring program is to map gas flows in the proximity of the supermassive black hole via broad emission-line reverberation mapping. In this talk, I will give an overview of the monitoring campaign and its multiple components, and outline our major findings to date.