261 research outputs found

    Broad spectral line and continuum variabilities in QSO spectra induced by microlensing of diffusive massive substructure

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    We investigate the variability of the continuum and broad lines in QSO spectra (particularly in the Hβ\beta line and continuum at λ\lambda 5100 \AA ) caused by microlensing of a diffuse massive structure (like an open star cluster). We modeled the continuum and line emitting region and simulate a lensing event by a star cluster located in an intervening galaxy. Such a type of microlensing event can have a significant influence on magnification and centroid shift of the broad lines and continuum source. We explore relationships between the continuum and broad line flux variability during the microlensing event.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figure

    Spectro-photometric variability of quasars caused by lensing of diffuse massive substructure: Consequences on flux anomaly and precise astrometric measurements

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    We investigate the spectro-photometric variability of quasars due to lensing of small mass substructure (from several tens to several hundreds solar masses). The aim of this paper is to explore the milli/microlensing influence on the flux anomaly observed between images of a lensed quasar in different spectral bands and possible influence of small mass structure lensing of non-macrolensed quasars.We find that spectro-photometric variability may be also caused by lensing of small mass diffuse structure and can produce the flux anomaly which is sometimes seen in different images of a lensed quasar. Additionally, we found that the lensing by small mass diffuse structure may produce significant changes in photo-center position of a quasar, and sometimes can split or deviate images of one source that can be detected as separate from the scale from 0.1 to several milliarcseconds. This can be measured ith Gaialike space astrometric missions. We point out a special case where a low redshifted deflector zd = 0.01 is lensing a high redshifted source, for which the variability in the flux and photocenter (several milliarcseconds) may be detected on a relatively short time scale.Comment: 10-pages, 10-figures, 3-table

    Stark broadening data for spectral lines of rare-earth elements: Nb III

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    The electron-impact widths for 15 doubly charged Nb ion lines have been theoretically determined by using the modified semiempirical method. Using the obtained results, we considered the influence of the electron-impact mechanism on line shapes in spectra of chemically peculiar stars and white dwarfs.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, accepted in Advances in Space Researc

    Gravitational microlensing of AGN dusty tori

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    We investigated the gravitational microlensing of active galactic nucleus dusty tori in the case of lensed quasars in the infrared domain. The dusty torus is modeled as a clumpy two-phase medium. To obtain spectral energy distributions and images of tori at different wavelengths, we used the 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer code SKIRT. A ray-shooting technique has been used to calculate microlensing magnification maps. We simulated microlensing by the stars in the lens galaxy for different configurations of the lensed system and different values of the torus parameters, in order to estimate (a) amplitudes and timescales of high magnification events, and (b) the influence of geometrical and physical properties of dusty tori on light curves in the infrared domain. We found that, despite their large size, dusty tori could be significantly affected by microlensing in some cases, especially in the near-infrared domain (rest-frame). The very long time-scales of such events, in the range from several decades to hundreds of years, are limiting the practical use of this method to study the properties of dusty tori. However, our results indicate that, when studying flux ratios between the images in different wavebands of lensed quasars, one should not disregard the possibility that the near and mid-infrared flux ratios could be under the influence of microlensing.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, MNRAS accepted. V3: corrected values in Table

    Black Hole Mass Estimation in Type 1 AGN: Hβ\beta vs. Mg II lines and the role of Balmer continuum

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    Here we investigate the Hβ\beta and Mg II spectral line parameters used for the black hole mass (MBH_{\rm BH}) estimation for a sample of Type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) spectra selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database. We have analyzed and compared the virialization of the Hβ\beta and Mg II emission lines, and found that the Hβ\beta line is more confident virial estimator than Mg II. We have investigated the influence of the Balmer continuum emission to the MBH_{\rm BH} estimation from the UV parameters, and found that the Balmer continuum emission can contribute to the overestimation of the MBH_{\rm BH} on average for ~ 5% (up to 10%).Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science

    The shape of Fe Kα\alpha line emitted from relativistic accretion disc around AGN black holes

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    The relativistically broadened Fe Kα\alpha line, originating from the accretion disc in a vicinity of a super massive black hole, is observed in only less than 50\% of type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). In this study we investigate could this lack of detections be explained by the effects of certain parameters of the accretion disc and black hole, such as the inclination, the inner and outer radius of disc and emissivity index. In order to determine how these parameters affect the Fe K α\alpha line shape, we simulated about 60,000 Fe K α\alpha line profiles emitted from the relativistic disc. Based on simulated line profiles, we conclude that the lack of the Fe Kα\alpha line detection in type 1 AGN could, be caused by the specific emitting disc parameters, but also by the limits in the spectral resolution and sensitivity of the X-ray detectors.Comment: Based on the talk presented Balkan Workshop BW2018 (10-14 June 2018, Ni\v{s}, Serbia), accepted for publishing in International Journal of Modern Physics A, 8 figures, 1 table, 15 page
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