1,299 research outputs found
On the Intermediate Line Region in AGNs
In this paper we explore the intermediate line region (ILR) by using the
photoionisation simulations of the gas clouds present at different radial
distances from the center, corresponding to the locations from BLR out to NLR
in four types of AGNs. We let for the presence of dust whenever conditions
allow for dust existence. All spectral shapes are taken from the recent
multi-wavelength campaigns. The cloud density decreases with distance as a
power law. We found that the slope of the power law density profile does not
affect the line emissivity radial profiles of major emission lines: H,
He~II, Mg~II, C~III] ~and [O~III]. When the density of the cloud at the
sublimation radius is as high as 10 cm, the ILR should clearly
be seen in the observations independently of the shape of the illuminating
radiation. Moreover, our result is valid for low ionization nuclear emission
regions of active galaxies.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in the Journal Frontiers
in Astronomy and Space Science
Efficient analysis in planet transit surveys
With the growing number of projects dedicated to the search for extrasolar
planets via transits, there is a need to develop fast, automatic, robust
methods with a statistical background in order to efficiently do the analysis.
We propose a modified analysis of variance (AoV) test particularly suitable for
the detection of planetary transits in stellar light curves. We show how
savings of labor by a factor of over 10 could be achieved by the careful
organization of computations. Basing on solid analytical statistical
formulation, we discuss performance of our and other methods for different
signal-to-noise and number of observations.Comment: 7 pages, to be published in MNRAS, downloadable software from
http://www.camk.edu.pl/~alex/#softwar
Photometric study of the variable star population in the globular cluster NGC 6397
We present the results of a photometric survey for variable stars in the
central region of the nearby globular cluster NGC 6397.Time series photometry
was obtained for 30 variable objects. The sample includes 12 new objects, of
which 6 show periodic lightcurves and 2 are eclipsing binaries of unknown
period. Six variables possess certain and three possess likely X-ray
counterparts detected with the Chandra observatory. Among them four are
cataclysmic variables and one is a foreground eclipsing binary. The cataclysmic
variable CV2 exhibited a likely dwarf nova type outburst in May 2003. The
cataclysmic variable CV3 was observed at 18.5<V<20.0 during 5 observing runs,
but went into a low state in May 2003 when it reached V>22. We have found that
thelight curve of the optical companion to the millisecond pulsar PSRJ1740-5340
exhibits noticeable changes of its amplitude on a time scale of a few months. A
shallow eclipse with Delta_V=0.03 mag was detected in one of the cluster
turnoff stars suggesting the presence of a large planet or brown dwarf in
orbit.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, submitted to MNRAS on 21 April 200
The Nature of the Emission Components in the Quasar/NLS1 PG1211+143
We present the study of the emission properties of the quasar PG1211+143,
which belongs to the class of Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies. On the basis of
observational data analyzed by us and collected from the literature, we study
the temporal and spectral variability of the source in the optical/UV/X-ray
bands and we propose a model that explains the spectrum emitted in this broad
energy range. In this model, the intrinsic emission originating in the warm
skin of the accretion disk is responsible for the spectral component that is
dominant in the softest X-ray range. The shape of reflected spectrum as well as
Fe K line detected in hard X-rays require the reflecting medium to be mildly
ionized (xi~500). We identify this reflector with the warm skin of the disk and
we show that the heating of the skin is consistent with the classical alpha
P_{tot} prescription, while alpha P_{gas} option is at least two orders of
magnitude too low to provide the required heating. We find that the mass of the
central black hole is relatively small (M_BH~10^7- 10^8 Msun, which is
consistent with the Broad Line Region mapping results and characteristic for
NLS1 class.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures, accepted to Ap
The existence of warm and optically thick dissipative coronae above accretion disks
In the past years, several observations of AGN and X-ray binaries have
suggested the existence of a warm T around 0.5-1 keV and optically thick, \tau
~ 10-20, corona covering the inner parts of the accretion disk. These
properties are directly derived from spectral fitting in UV to soft-X-rays
using Comptonization models. However, whether such a medium can be both in
radiative and hydrostatic equilibrium with an accretion disk is still
uncertain. We investigate the properties of such warm, optically thick coronae
and put constraints on their existence. We solve the radiative transfer
equation for grey atmosphere analytically in a pure scattering medium,
including local dissipation as an additional heating term in the warm corona.
The temperature profile of the warm corona is calculated assuming it is cooled
by Compton scattering, with the underlying dissipative disk providing photons
to the corona. Our analytic calculations show that a dissipative thick,
(\tau_{cor} ~ 10-12) corona on the top of a standard accretion disk can reach
temperatures of the order of 0.5-1 keV in its upper layers provided that the
disk is passive. But, in absence of strong magnetic fields, the requirement of
a Compton cooled corona in hydrostatic equilibrium in the vertical direction
sets an upper limit on the Thomson optical depth \tau_{cor} < 5 . We show this
value cannot be exceeded independently of the accretion disk parameters.
However, magnetic pressure can extend this result to larger optical depths.
Namely, a dissipative corona might have an optical depth up to ~ 20 when the
magnetic pressure is 100 times higher that the gas pressure. The observation of
warm coronae with Thomson depth larger than ~ 5 puts tights constraints on the
physics of the accretion disk/corona systems and requires either strong
magnetic fields or vertical outflows to stabilize the system.Comment: 9 pages 6 figure, submitted to A&A, comments are welcom
Intermediate-line Emission in AGNs: The Effect of Prescription of the Gas Density
The requirement of intermediate line component in the recently observed
spectra of several AGNs points to possibility of the existence of a physically
separate region between broad line region (BLR) and narrow line region (NLR).
In this paper we explore the emission from intermediate line region (ILR) by
using the photoionization simulations of the gas clouds distributed radially
from the AGN center. The gas clouds span distances typical for BLR, ILR and
NLR, and the appearance of dust at the sublimation radius is fully taken into
account in our model. Single cloud structure is calculated under the assumption
of the constant pressure. We show that the slope of the power law cloud density
radial profile does not affect the existence of ILR in major types of AGN. We
found that the low ionization iron line, Fe~II, appears to be highly sensitive
for the presence of dust and therefore becomes potential tracer of dust content
in line emitting regions. We show that the use of disk-like cloud density
profile computed at the upper part of the accretion disc atmosphere reproduces
the observed properties of the line emissivities. In particular, the distance
of H line inferred from our model agrees with that obtained from the
reverberation mapping studies in Sy1 galaxy NGC 5548.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure
The intermediate line region in active galactic nuclei
We show that the recently observed suppression of the gap between the broad
line region (BLR) and the narrow line region (NLR) in some AGN can be fully
explained by an increase of the gas density in the emitting region. Our model
predicts the formation of the intermediate line region (ILR) that is observed
in some Seyfert galaxies by the detection of emission lines with intermediate
velocity full width half maximum (FWHM) 700 - 1200 km s. These
lines are believed to be originating from an ILR located somewhere between the
BLR and NLR. As it was previously proved, the apparent gap is assumed to be
caused by the presence of dust beyond the sublimation radius. Our computations
with the use of {\sc cloudy} photoionization code, show that the differences in
the shape of spectral energy distribution (SED) from the central region of AGN,
do not diminish the apparent gap in the line emission in those objects. A
strong discontinuity in the line emission vs radius exists for all lines at the
dust sublimation radius. However, increasing the gas density to
10 cm at the sublimation radius provides the continuous line
emission vs radius and fully explains the recently observed lack of apparent
gap in some AGN. We show that such a high density is consistent with the
density of upper layers of an accretion disk atmosphere. Therefore, the upper
layers of the disk atmosphere can give rise to the formation of observed
emission line clouds.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
CCD Photometry of Faint Variable Stars in the Globular Cluster NGC 6752
We present the results of a photometric survey for variable stars in the
field of the nearby globular cluster NGC 6752. The cluster was monitored in
1996 and 1997 for a total of 54 hours with 3 different CCD cameras mounted on
the 1.0-m Swope telescope. Eleven new variables were identified: 3 SX Phe
stars, 7 contact binaries and 1 candidate detached eclipsing binary. All 3 SX
Phe variables are likely members of the cluster while only 1 out of the 7
contact binaries is a potential cluster member. As a by-product of our survey
we obtained UBV photometry for a large sample of stars in the cluster field.
Two stars with U-B \approx -1.0 and V=19.3 and V=20.6 were identified. They lie
along the extended horizontal branch of the cluster, and are likely to be faint
sdB stars from NGC 6752.Comment: 18 pages, LaTex, 9 figures (Fig. 1 not available), accepted for
publication in the Astronomical Journa
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