165 research outputs found
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
A dust-parallax distance of 19 megaparsecs to the supermassive black hole in NGC 4151
The active galaxy NGC 4151 has a crucial role as one of only two active
galactic nuclei for which black hole mass measurements based on emission line
reverberation mapping can be calibrated against other dynamical methods.
Unfortunately, effective calibration requires an accurate distance to NGC 4151,
which is currently not available. Recently reported distances range from 4 to
29 megaparsecs (Mpc). Strong peculiar motions make a redshift-based distance
very uncertain, and the geometry of the galaxy and its nucleus prohibit
accurate measurements using other techniques. Here we report a dust-parallax
distance to NGC 4151 of Mpc. The measurement is
based on an adaptation of a geometric method proposed previously using the
emission line regions of active galaxies. Since this region is too small for
current imaging capabilities, we use instead the ratio of the
physical-to-angular sizes of the more extended hot dust emission as determined
from time-delays and infrared interferometry. This new distance leads to an
approximately 1.4-fold increase in the dynamical black hole mass, implying a
corresponding correction to emission line reverberation masses of black holes
if they are calibrated against the two objects with additional dynamical
masses.Comment: Authors' version of a letter published in Nature (27 November 2014);
8 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011: Reverberation Mapping of Markarian 50
The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011 observing campaign was carried out over
the course of 11 weeks in Spring 2011. Here we present the first results from
this program, a measurement of the broad-line reverberation lag in the Seyfert
1 galaxy Mrk 50. Combining our data with supplemental observations obtained
prior to the start of the main observing campaign, our dataset covers a total
duration of 4.5 months. During this time, Mrk 50 was highly variable,
exhibiting a maximum variability amplitude of a factor of 4 in the U-band
continuum and a factor of 2 in the H-beta line. Using standard
cross-correlation techniques, we find that H-beta and H-gamma lag the V-band
continuum by tau_cen = 10.64(-0.93,+0.82) and 8.43(-1.28,+1.30) days,
respectively, while the lag of He II 4686 is unresolved. The H-beta line
exhibits a symmetric velocity-resolved reverberation signature with shorter
lags in the high-velocity wings than in the line core, consistent with an
origin in a broad-line region dominated by orbital motion rather than infall or
outflow. Assuming a virial normalization factor of f=5.25, the virial estimate
of the black hole mass is (3.2+-0.5)*10^7 solar masses. These observations
demonstrate that Mrk 50 is among the most promising nearby active galaxies for
detailed investigations of broad-line region structure and dynamics.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. 6 pages, 4 figure
Do reverberation mapping analyses provide an accurate picture of the broad line region?
WM acknowledges the University of Southampton‘s Institute for Complex Systems Simulation and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for the PhD student that funded his research. CK and NSH acknowledge support by the Science and Technology Facilities Council grant ST/M001326/1. JHM is supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council under grant ST/N000919/1. KH acknowledges support from STFC grant ST/R000824/1.Reverberation mapping (RM) is a powerful approach for determining the nature of the broad-line region (BLR) in active galactic nuclei. However, inferring physical BLR properties from an observed spectroscopic time series is a difficult inverse problem. Here, we present a blind test of two widely used RM methods: MEMEcho (developed by Horne) and CARAMEL (developed by Pancoast and collaborators). The test data are simulated spectroscopic time series that track the Hα emission line response to an empirical continuum light curve. The underlying BLR model is a rotating, biconical accretion disc wind, and the synthetic spectra are generated via self-consistent ionization and radiative transfer simulations. We generate two mock data sets, representing Seyfert galaxies and QSOs. The Seyfert model produces a largely negative response, which neither method can recover. However, both fail “gracefully”, neither generating spurious results. For the QSO model both CARAMEL and expert interpretation of MEMEchoś output both capture the broadly annular, rotation-dominated nature of the line-forming region, though MEMEcho analysis overestimates its size by 50%, but CARAMEL is unable to distinguish between additional inflow and outflow components. Despite fitting individual spectra well, the CARAMEL velocity-delay maps and RMS line profiles are strongly inconsistent with the input data. Finally, since the Hα line-forming region is rotation dominated, neither method recovers the disc wind nature of the underlying BLR model. Thus considerable care is required when interpreting the results of RM analyses in terms of physical models.PostprintPeer reviewe
Stability of the broad-line region geometry and dynamics in Arp 151 over seven years
KH acknowledges support from STFC grant ST/M001296/1.The Seyfert 1 galaxy Arp 151 was monitored as part of three reverberation mapping campaigns spanning 2008−2015. We present modeling of these velocity-resolved reverberation mapping datasets using a geometric and dynamical model for the broad line region (BLR). By modeling each of the three datasets independently, we infer the evolution of the BLR structure in Arp 151 over a total of seven years and constrain the systematic uncertainties in non-varying parameters such as the black hole mass. We find that the BLR geometry of a thick disk viewed close to face-on is stable over this time, although the size of the BLR grows by a factor of 2. The dynamics of the BLR are dominated by inflow and the inferred black hole mass is consistent for the three datasets, despite the increase in BLR size. Combining the inference for the three datasets yields a black hole mass and statistical uncertainty of log10(MBH/M⊙) = 6.82(^+0.09_−0.09) with a standard deviation in individual measurements of 0.13 dex.PostprintPeer reviewe
Robotic reverberation mapping of Arp 151
Research by A.J.B. and L.P. are supported by NSF grant AST-1412693. Research by D.J.S. is supported by NSF grant AST-1412504 and AST-1517649. Research by T.T. is supported by NSF grant AST-1412315 and a Packard Research Fellowship. E.R.C. and S.C. gratefully acknowledge the receipt of research grants from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa.We present the first results from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) Network's Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) Key Project, a large program devoted to using the robotic resources of LCOGT to perform time domain studies of active galaxies. We monitored the Seyfert 1 galaxy Arp. 151 (Mrk. 40) for similar to 200 days with robotic imagers and with the FLOYDS robotic spectrograph at Faulkes Telescope North. Arp. 151 was highly variable during this campaign, with V-band light curve variations of similar to 0.3 mag and H beta flux changing by a factor of similar to 3. We measure robust time lags between the V-band continuum and the H alpha, H beta, and H gamma emission lines, with tau(cen) = 13.89(-1.41)(+1.39),7.52(-1.06)(+1.43), and 7.40(-1.32)(+1.50) days, respectively. The lag for the He II lambda 4686 emission line is unresolved. We measure a velocity-resolved lag for the H beta line, which is clearly asymmetric with higher lags on the blue wing of the line that decline to the red, possibly indicative of radial inflow, and is similar in morphology to past observations of the H beta transfer function shape. Assuming a virialization factor of f = 5.5, we estimate a black hole mass of M-BH = 6.2(-1.2)(+1.4) x 10(6)M(circle dot), also consistent with past measurements for this object. These results represent the first step to demonstrate the powerful robotic capabilities of LCOGT for long-term AGN time domain campaigns that human intensive programs cannot easily accomplish. Arp 151 is now one of just a few AGNs where the virial product is known to remain constant against substantial changes in H beta lag and luminosity.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. IV. Anomalous Behavior of the Broad Ultraviolet Emission Lines in NGC 5548
During an intensive Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) UV monitoring campaign of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 performed from 2014 February to July, the normally highly correlated far UV continuum and broad emission line variations decorrelated for ~60–70 days, starting ~75 days after the first HST/COS observation. Following this anomalous state, the flux and variability of the broad emission lines returned to a more normal state. This transient behavior, characterized by significant deficits in flux and equivalent width of the strong broad UV emission lines, is the first of its kind to be unambiguously identified in an active galactic nucleus reverberation mapping campaign. The largest corresponding emission line flux deficits occurred for the high ionization, collisionally excited lines C iv and Si IV(+O IV]), and also He II(+O III]), while the anomaly in Lyα was substantially smaller. This pattern of behavior indicates a depletion in the flux of photons with Eph \u3e 54 eV relative to those near 13.6 eV. We suggest two plausible mechanisms for the observed behavior: (i) temporary obscuration of the ionizing continuum incident upon broad line region (BLR) clouds by a moving veil of material lying between the inner accretion disk and inner (BLR), perhaps resulting from an episodic ejection of material from the disk, or (ii) a temporary change in the intrinsic ionizing continuum spectral energy distribution resulting in a deficit of ionizing photons with energies \u3e 54 eV, possibly due to a transient restructuring of the Comptonizing atmosphere above the disk. Current evidence appears to favor the latter explanation
Space telescope and optical reverberation mapping project. IV. Anomalous behavior of the broad ultraviolet emission lines in NGC 5548
During an intensive Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) UV monitoring campaign of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 performed from 2014 February to July, the normally highly correlated far UV continuum and broad emission line variations decorrelated for ∼60-70 days, starting ∼75 days after the first HST/COS observation. Following this anomalous state, the flux and variability of the broad emission lines returned to a more normal state. This transient behavior, characterized by significant deficits in flux and equivalent width of the strong broad UV emission lines, is the first of its kind to be unambiguously identified in an active galactic nucleus reverberation mapping campaign. The largest corresponding emission line flux deficits occurred for the high ionization, collisionally excited lines C iv and Si iv(+O iv]), and also He ii(+O iii]), while the anomaly in Lywas substantially smaller. This pattern of behavior indicates a depletion in the flux of photons with Eph > 54 eV relative to those near 13.6 eV. We suggest two plausible mechanisms for the observed behavior: (i) temporary obscuration of the ionizing continuum incident upon broad line region (BLR) clouds by a moving veil of material lying between the inner accretion disk and inner (BLR), perhaps resulting from an episodic ejection of material from the disk, or (ii) a temporary change in the intrinsic ionizing continuum spectral energy distribution resulting in a deficit of ionizing photons with energies >54 eV, possibly due to a transient restructuring of the Comptonizing atmosphere above the disk. Current evidence appears to favor the latter explanation.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. III. Optical Continuum Emission and Broad-band Time Delays in NGC 5548
Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. VI. : reverberating disk models for NGC 5548
D.A.S. and K.D.H. acknowledge support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council through grant ST/K502339/1 and ST/J001651/1.We conduct a multiwavelength continuum variability study of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 to investigate the temperature structure of its accretion disk. The 19 overlapping continuum light curves (1158 Å to 9157 Å) combine simultaneous Hubble Space Telescope, Swift, and ground-based observations over a 180 day period from 2014 January to July. Light-curve variability is interpreted as the reverberation response of the accretion disk to irradiation by a central time-varying point source. Our model yields the disk inclination i = 36° ± 10°, temperature T1 =(44 ± 6) x 103 K at 1 light day from the black hole, and a temperature–radius slope (T α r-α) of α = 0.99 ± 0.03. We also infer the driving light curve and find that it correlates poorly with both the hard and soft X-ray light curves, suggesting that the X-rays alone may not drive the ultraviolet and optical variability over the observing period. We also decompose the light curves into bright, faint, and mean accretion-disk spectra. These spectra lie below that expected for a standard blackbody accretion disk accreting at L/LEdd=0.1.PostprintPeer reviewe
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