150 research outputs found
Spatially-Resolved Spectra of the "Teacup" AGN: Tracing the History of a Dying Quasar
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Galaxy Zoo project has revealed a number
of spectacular galaxies possessing Extended Emission-Line Regions (EELRs), the
most famous being Hanny's Voorwerp galaxy. We present another EELR object
discovered in the SDSS endeavor: the Teacup Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN),
nicknamed for its EELR, which has a handle like structure protruding 15 kpc
into the northeast quadrant of the galaxy. We analyze physical conditions of
this galaxy with long-slit ground based spectroscopy from Lowell, Lick, and
KPNO observatories. With the Lowell 1.8m Perkin's telescope we took multiple
observations at different offset positions, allowing us to recover spatially
resolved spectra across the galaxy. Line diagnostics indicate the ionized gas
is photoionized primarily by the AGN. Additionally we are able to derive the
hydrogen density from the [S II] 6716/6731 ratio. We generated two-component
photoionization models for each spatially resolved Lowell spectrum. These
models allow us to calculate the AGN bolometric luminosity seen by the gas at
different radii from the nuclear center of the Teacup. Our results show a drop
in bolometric luminosity by more than two orders of magnitude from the EELR to
the nucleus, suggesting that the AGN has decreased in luminosity by this amount
in a continuous fashion over 46,000 years, supporting the case for a dying AGN
in this galaxy independent of any IR based evidence. We demonstrate that
spatially resolved photoionization modeling could be applied to EELRs to
investigate long time scale variability.Comment: 38 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Large-scale outflows in luminous QSOs revisited: The impact of beam smearing on AGN feedback efficiencies
Context. Feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) is thought to play an important role in quenching star formation in galaxies. However, the efficiency with which AGN dissipate their radiative energy into the ambient medium remains strongly debated.
Aims. Enormous observational efforts have been made to constrain the energetics of AGN feedback by mapping the kinematics of the ionized gas on kpc scale. We study how the observed kinematics and inferred energetics are affected by beam smearing of a bright unresolved narrow-line region (NLR) due to seeing.
Methods. We re-analyse optical integral-field spectroscopy of a sample of twelve luminous unobscured quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) (0.4 \u3cz\u3c 0.7) previously presented in the literature. The point-spread function (PSF) for the observations is directly obtained from the light distribution of the broad Hβ line component. Therefore, we are able to compare the ionized gas kinematics and derived energetics of the total, truly spatially extended, and unresolved [O iii] emission.
Results. We find that the spatially resolved [O iii] line width on kpc scales is significantly narrower than the one before PSF deblending. The extended NLRs (ENLRs) appear intrinsically offset from the QSO position or more elongated which can be interpreted in favour of a conical outflow on large scales while a spherical geometry cannot be ruled out for the unresolved NLR. We find that the kinetic power at 5 kpc distance based on a spherical model is reduced by two orders of magnitude for a conical outflow and one order of magnitude for the unresolved NLR after PSF deblending. This reduced kinetic power corresponds to only 0.01−0.1 per cent of the bolometric AGN luminosity. This is smaller than the 5−10% feedback efficiency required by some cosmological simulations to reproduce the massive galaxy population. The injected momentum fluxes are close or below the simple radiation-pressure limit Lbol/c for the conical outflow model for the NLR and ENLR when beam smearing is considered.
Conclusions. Integral-field spectroscopy is a powerful tool to investigate the energetics of AGN outflows, but the impact of beam smearing has to be taken into account in the high contrast regime of QSOs. For the majority of observations in the literature, this has not been addressed carefully so that the incidence and energetics of presumed kpc-scale AGN-driven outflows still remain an unsolved issue, from an observational perspective
The Lick AGN Monitoring Project: Recalibrating Single-Epoch Virial Black Hole Mass Estimates
We investigate the calibration and uncertainties of black hole mass estimates
based on the single-epoch (SE) method, using homogeneous and high-quality
multi-epoch spectra obtained by the Lick Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN)
Monitoring Project for 9 local Seyfert 1 galaxies with black hole masses < 10^8
M_sun. By decomposing the spectra into their AGN and stellar components, we
study the variability of the single-epoch Hbeta line width (full width at
half-maximum intensity, FWHM_Hbeta; or dispersion, sigma_Hbeta) and of the AGN
continuum luminosity at 5100A (L_5100). From the distribution of the "virial
products" (~ FWHM_Hbeta^2 L_5100^0.5 or sigma_Hbeta^2 L_5100^0.5) measured from
SE spectra, we estimate the uncertainty due to the combined variability as ~
0.05 dex (12%). This is subdominant with respect to the total uncertainty in SE
mass estimates, which is dominated by uncertainties in the size-luminosity
relation and virial coefficient, and is estimated to be ~ 0.46 dex (factor of ~
3). By comparing the Hbeta line profile of the SE, mean, and root-mean-square
(rms) spectra, we find that the Hbeta line is broader in the mean (and SE)
spectra than in the rms spectra by ~ 0.1 dex (25%) for our sample with
FWHM_Hbeta < 3000 km/s. This result is at variance with larger mass black holes
where the difference is typically found to be much less than 0.1 dex. To
correct for this systematic difference of the Hbeta line profile, we introduce
a line-width dependent virial factor, resulting in a recalibration of SE black
hole mass estimators for low-mass AGNs.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 18 pages, 17 figure
The Lick AGN Monitoring Project: Alternate Routes to a Broad-line Region Radius
It is now possible to estimate black hole masses across cosmic time, using
broad emission lines in active galaxies. This technique informs our views of
how galaxies and their central black holes coevolve. Unfortunately, there are
many outstanding uncertainties associated with these "virial" mass estimates.
One of these comes from using the accretion luminosity to infer a size for the
broad-line region. Incorporating the new sample of low-luminosity active
galaxies from our recent monitoring campaign at Lick Observatory, we
recalibrate the radius-luminosity relation with tracers of the accretion
luminosity other than the optical continuum. We find that the radius of the
broad-line region scales as the square root of the X-ray and Hbeta
luminosities, in agreement with recent optical studies. On the other hand, the
scaling appears to be marginally steeper with narrow-line luminosities. This is
consistent with a previously observed decrease in the ratio of narrow-line to
X-ray luminosity with increasing total luminosity. The radius of the broad-line
region correlates most tightly with Hbeta luminosity, while the X-ray and
narrow-line relations both have comparable scatter of a factor of two. These
correlations provide useful alternative virial BH masses in objects with no
detectable optical/UV continuum emission, such as high-redshift galaxies with
broad emission lines, radio-loud objects, or local active galaxies with
galaxy-dominated continua.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Ap
The Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS): Tracing the circumnuclear star formation in the super-Eddington NLS1 Mrk 1044
The host galaxy conditions for rapid supermassive black hole growth are
poorly understood. Narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies often exhibit high
accretion rates and are hypothesized to be prototypes of active galactic nuclei
(AGN) at an early stage of their evolution. We present VLT MUSE NFM-AO
observations of Mrk 1044, the nearest super-Eddington accreting NLS1. Together
with archival MUSE WFM data we aim to understand the host galaxy processes that
drive Mrk 1044's black hole accretion. We extract the faint stellar continuum
emission from the AGN-deblended host and perform spatially resolved emission
line diagnostics with an unprecedented resolution. Combining both MUSE WFM and
NFM-AO observations, we use a kinematic model of a thin rotating disk to trace
the stellar and ionized gas motion from 10kpc down to 30pc around the
nucleus. Mrk 1044's stellar kinematics follow circular rotation, whereas the
ionized gas shows tenuous spiral features in the center. We resolve a compact
star forming circumnuclear ellipse (CNE) that has a semi-minor axis of
306pc. Within this CNE, the gas is metal rich and its line ratios are
entirely consistent with excitation by star formation. With an integrated SFR
of the CNE contributes 27% of
the galaxy-wide star formation. We conclude that Mrk 1044's nuclear activity
has not yet affected the circumnuclear star formation. Thus, Mrk 1044 is
consistent with the idea that NLS1s are young AGN. A simple mass budget
consideration suggests that the circumnuclear star formation and AGN phase are
connected and the patterns in the ionized gas velocity field are a signature of
the ongoing AGN feeding.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A, 17 pages, 14 figures, 1 table, for
Fig. 5 associated animation see https://youtube.com/watch?v=H_WSgWJSCf
The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011: Dynamical Modeling of the Broad-Line Region
We present models of the H-emitting broad-line region (BLR) in seven
Seyfert 1 galaxies from the Lick AGN (Active Galactic Nucleus) Monitoring
Project 2011 sample, drawing inferences on the BLR structure and dynamics as
well as the mass of the central supermassive black hole. We find that the BLR
is generally a thick disk, viewed close to face-on, with preferential emission
back toward the ionizing source. The dynamics in our sample range from
near-circular elliptical orbits to inflowing or outflowing trajectories. We
measure black hole masses of for PG 1310108, for Mrk 50,
for Mrk 141, for Mrk 279,
for Mrk 1511, for NGC 4593, and
for Zw 229015. We use these black hole mass
measurements along with cross-correlation time lags and line widths to recover
the scale factor used in traditional reverberation mapping measurements.
Combining our results with other studies that use this modeling technique,
bringing our sample size to 16, we calculate a scale factor that can be used
for measuring black hole masses in other reverberation mapping campaigns. When
using the root-mean-square (rms) spectrum and using the line dispersion to
measure the line width, we find . Finally, we search for correlations between and other AGN
and BLR parameters and find marginal evidence that is correlated with
and the BLR inclination angle, but no significant evidence of a
correlation with the AGN luminosity or Eddington ratio.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011: Dynamical Modeling of the Broad Line Region in Mrk 50
We present dynamical modeling of the broad line region (BLR) in the Seyfert 1
galaxy Mrk 50 using reverberation mapping data taken as part of the Lick AGN
Monitoring Project (LAMP) 2011. We model the reverberation mapping data
directly, constraining the geometry and kinematics of the BLR, as well as
deriving a black hole mass estimate that does not depend on a normalizing
factor or virial coefficient. We find that the geometry of the BLR in Mrk 50 is
a nearly face-on thick disk, with a mean radius of 9.6(+1.2,-0.9) light days, a
width of the BLR of 6.9(+1.2,-1.1) light days, and a disk opening angle of
25\pm10 degrees above the plane. We also constrain the inclination angle to be
9(+7,-5) degrees, close to face-on. Finally, the black hole mass of Mrk 50 is
inferred to be log10(M(BH)/Msun) = 7.57(+0.44,-0.27). By comparison to the
virial black hole mass estimate from traditional reverberation mapping
analysis, we find the normalizing constant (virial coefficient) to be log10(f)
= 0.78(+0.44,-0.27), consistent with the commonly adopted mean value of 0.74
based on aligning the M(BH)-{\sigma}* relation for AGN and quiescent galaxies.
While our dynamical model includes the possibility of a net inflow or outflow
in the BLR, we cannot distinguish between these two scenarios.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 8 pages, 6 figure
The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011: Spectroscopic Campaign and Emission-Line Light Curves
In the Spring of 2011 we carried out a 2.5 month reverberation mapping
campaign using the 3 m Shane telescope at Lick Observatory, monitoring 15
low-redshift Seyfert 1 galaxies. This paper describes the observations,
reductions and measurements, and data products from the spectroscopic campaign.
The reduced spectra were fitted with a multicomponent model in order to isolate
the contributions of various continuum and emission-line components. We present
light curves of broad emission lines and the AGN continuum, and measurements of
the broad H-beta line widths in mean and root-mean square (rms) spectra. For
the most highly variable AGNs we also measured broad H-beta line widths and
velocity centroids from the nightly spectra. In four AGNs exhibiting the
highest variability amplitudes, we detect anticorrelations between broad H-beta
width and luminosity, demonstrating that the broad-line region "breathes" on
short timescales of days to weeks in response to continuum variations. We also
find that broad H-beta velocity centroids can undergo substantial changes in
response to continuum variations; in NGC 4593 the broad H-beta velocity shifted
by ~250 km/s over a one-month duration. This reverberation-induced velocity
shift effect is likely to contribute a significant source of confusion noise to
binary black hole searches that use multi-epoch quasar spectroscopy to detect
binary orbital motion. We also present results from simulations that examine
biases that can occur in measurement of broad-line widths from rms spectra due
to the contributions of continuum variations and photon-counting noise.Comment: 33 pages, 28 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Supplement
Serie
The Lick AGN Monitoring Project: Reverberation Mapping of Optical Hydrogen and Helium Recombination Lines
We have recently completed a 64-night spectroscopic monitoring campaign at
the Lick Observatory 3-m Shane telescope with the aim of measuring the masses
of the black holes in 12 nearby (z < 0.05) Seyfert 1 galaxies with expected
masses in the range ~10^6-10^7M_sun and also the well-studied nearby active
galactic nucleus (AGN) NGC 5548. Nine of the objects in the sample (including
NGC 5548) showed optical variability of sufficient strength during the
monitoring campaign to allow for a time lag to be measured between the
continuum fluctuations and the response to these fluctuations in the broad
Hbeta emission, which we have previously reported. We present here the light
curves for the Halpha, Hgamma, HeII 4686, and HeI 5876 emission lines and the
time lags for the emission-line responses relative to changes in the continuum
flux. Combining each emission-line time lag with the measured width of the line
in the variable part of the spectrum, we determine a virial mass of the central
supermassive black hole from several independent emission lines. We find that
the masses are generally consistent within the uncertainties. The time-lag
response as a function of velocity across the Balmer line profiles is examined
for six of the AGNs. Finally we compare several trends seen in the dataset
against the predictions from photoionization calculations as presented by
Korista & Goad. We confirm several of their predictions, including an increase
in responsivity and a decrease in the mean time lag as the excitation and
ionization level for the species increases. Further confirmation of
photoionization predictions for broad-line gas behavior will require additional
monitoring programs for these AGNs while they are in different luminosity
states. [abridged]Comment: 37 pages, 18 figures and 15 tables, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
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