885 research outputs found
The ultraviolet excess of quasars 3: The highly polarized quasars PKS 0736+017 and PKS 1510-089
Ultraviolet/optical/infrared spectrophotometry of the highly-polarized quasars (HPQ's) PKS 0736+017 and PKS 1510-089 is analyzed. A blazar continuum component like that in BL Lac objects (e.g. with violent variability, high polarization, and a steep power-law shape) contributes about half the visual light of 1510-089, and at least three-quarters of that in 0736+017. The remaining light has the same spectrum as normal (low-polarization) quasars, including an ultraviolet excess or blue bump, which is easily detected in the IUE spectra of 1510-089, and weakly detected in 0736+017. The line fluxes do vary, but not as much as the continuum. The ratios of the broad emission lines, and the Balmer continuum are normal in both quasars
Far-infrared properties of optically-selected quasars and Seyfert galaxies
Pointed IRAS observations and ground based observations are used to determine the infrared properties of optically selected galaxies and quasars. The use of complete, unbiased, optically selected samples means that statistical tests can be applied to probe the underlying properties of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The near infrared to millimeter spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were studied of the CfA Seyfert galaxies, a well defined, unbiased sample of 25 Type 1 and 23 Type 2 Seyfert galaxies selected by optical spectroscopy. Data given show strong trends in the infrared SEDs. Strong evidence is also given that the infrared spectra of Seyfert 2 galaxies are dominated by thermal emission from warm dust, while nonthermal emission is more important in the spectra of quasars and luminous Seyfert 1 nuclei
Intergalactic Photon Spectra from the Far IR to the UV Lyman Limit for and the Optical Depth of the Universe to High Energy Gamma-Rays
We calculate the intergalactic photon density as a function of both energy
and redshift for 0 < z < 6 for photon energies from .003 eV to the Lyman limit
cutoff at 13.6 eV in a Lambda-CDM universe with and
. Our galaxy evolution model gives results which are
consistent with Spitzer deep number counts and the spectral energy distribution
of the extragalactic background radiation. We use our photon density results to
extend previous work on the absorption of high energy gamma-rays in
intergalactic space owing to interactions with low energy photons and the 2.7 K
cosmic background radiation. We calculate the optical depth of the universe,
tau, for gamma-rays having energies from 4 GeV to 100 TeV emitted by sources at
redshifts from ~0 to 5. We also give an analytic fit with numerical
coefficients for approximating . As an example of the
application of our results, we calculate the absorbed spectrum of the blazar
PKS 2155-304 at z = 0.117 and compare it with the spectrum observed by the
H.E.S.S. air Cherenkov gamma-ray telescope array.Comment: final version to be published in Ap
Corrected Table for the Parametric Coefficients for the Optical Depth of the Universe to Gamma-rays at Various Redshifts
Table 1 in our paper, ApJ 648, 774 (2006) entitled "Intergalactic Photon
Spectra from the Far IR to the UV Lyman Limit for 0 < z < 6 and the Optical
Depth of the Universe to High Energy Gamma-Rays" had erroneous numbers for the
coefficients fitting the parametric form for the optical depth of the universe
to gamma-rays. The correct values for these parameters as described in the
original text are given here in a corrected table for various redshifts for the
baseline model (upper row) and fast evolution (lower row) for each individual
redshift. The parametric approximation is good for optical depths between 0.01
and 100 and for gamma-ray energies up to ~2 TeV for all redshifts but also for
energies up to ~10 TeV for redshifts less than 1.Comment: Table 1 corrected and new gamma-ray energy range of validity give
H{\alpha} Imaging of Nearby Seyfert Host Galaxies
We used narrowband interference filters with the CCD imaging camera on the
Nickel 1.0 meter telescope at Lick Observatory to observe 31 nearby (z < 0.03)
Seyfert galaxies in the 12 {\mu}m Active Galaxy Sample. We obtained pure
emission line images of each galaxy in order to separate H{\alpha} emission
from the nucleus from that of the host galaxy. The extended H{\alpha} emission
is expected to be powered by newly formed hot stars, and correlates well with
other indicators of current star formation in these galaxies: 7.7 {\mu}m PAH,
far-infrared, and radio luminosity. Relative to what would be expected from
recent star formation, there is a 0.8 dex excess of radio emission in our
Seyfert galaxies. The nuclear H{\alpha} luminosity is dominated by the AGN, and
is correlated with the hard X-ray luminosity. There is an upward offset of 1
dex in this correlation for the Seyfert 1s due to a strong contribution from
the Broad Line Region. We found a correlation between star formation rate and
AGN luminosity. In spite of selection effects, we concluded that the absence of
bright Seyfert nuclei in galaxies with low SFRs is real, albeit only weakly
significant. We used our measured spatial distributions of H{\alpha} emission
to determine what these Seyfert galaxies would look like when observed through
fixed apertures at high redshifts. Although all would be detectable emission
line galaxies at any redshift, most would appear dominated by HII region
emission. Only the most luminous AGN would still be identified at z~0.3.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Infrared-ultraviolet spectra of active galactic nuclei
Data from IRAS and IUE were combined with ground based optical and infrared spectrophotometry to derive emission line free spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for 29 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) between 0.1 and 100 microns. The IRAS data were scaled down to account for extended emission. These correction factors, determined by comparing small aperture ground based 10.6 micron data with large aperture IRAS 12 micron fluxes, were usually less than 25%. These corrected SEDs are shown
The central molecular gas structure in LINERs with low luminosity AGN: evidence for gradual disappearance of the torus
We present observations of the molecular gas in the nuclear environment of
three prototypical low luminosity AGN (LLAGN), based on VLT/SINFONI AO-assisted
integral-field spectroscopy of H2 1-0 S(1) emission at angular resolutions of
~0.17". On scales of 50-150 pc the spatial distribution and kinematics of the
molecular gas are consistent with a rotating thin disk, where the ratio of
rotation (V) to dispersion (sigma) exceeds unity. However, in the central 50
pc, the observations reveal a geometrically and optically thick structure of
molecular gas (V/sigma10^{23} cm^{-2}) that is likely to be
associated with the outer extent of any smaller scale obscuring structure. In
contrast to Seyfert galaxies, the molecular gas in LLAGN has a V/sigma<1 over
an area that is ~9 times smaller and column densities that are in average ~3
times smaller. We interpret these results as evidence for a gradual
disappearance of the nuclear obscuring structure. While a disk wind may not be
able to maintain a thick rotating structure at these luminosities, inflow of
material into the nuclear region could provide sufficient energy to sustain it.
In this context, LLAGN may represent the final phase of accretion in current
theories of torus evolution. While the inflow rate is considerable during the
Seyfert phase, it is slowly decreasing, and the collisional disk is gradually
transitioning to become geometrically thin. Furthermore, the nuclear region of
these LLAGN is dominated by intermediate-age/old stellar populations (with
little or no on-going star formation), consistent with a late stage of
evolution.Comment: 15 pages, including 4 figures and 1 table, Accepted for publication
in ApJ Letter
Seyfert Galaxies in the Local Universe: Analysis of Spitzer Spectra of a Complete Sample
The Spitzer high resolution spectra of 72 Seyfert galaxies from the 12m
Galaxy Sample are presented and discussed. The presence of starburst components
in these galaxies can be quantified by powerful mid-IR diagnostics tools (i.e.
11.25m PAH feature equivalent width and the H emission line
intensity), as well as the AGN dominance can be measured by specific fine
structure line ratios (e.g. [NeV]/[NeII], [NeV]/[SiII], etc.). The two types of
Seyfert galaxies do not show any statistical difference in our diagnostic
tools. However, the Seyfert 2's showing hidden Broad Line Regions in
spectro-polarimetric observations have on average an higher AGN dominance, a
weaker star formation component and a warmer [60 - 25] spectral index than
those without broad emission lines.Comment: Proceedings of the Conference "The central kiloparsec. Active
Galactic Nuclei and their hosts, 4-6 June 2008, Ierapetra, Crete, Greec
Integrated-light Two Micron All Sky Survey infrared photometry of Galactic globular clusters
We have mosaicked Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) images to derive surface brightness profiles in J, H, and K_s for 104 Galactic globular clusters. We fit these with King profiles and show that the core radii are identical to within the errors for each of these IR colors and are identical to the core radii at V in essentially all cases. We derive integrated-light colors V-J, V-H, V-K_s, J-H, and J-Ks for these globular clusters. Each color shows a reasonably tight relation between the dereddened colors and metallicity. Fits to these are given for each color. The IR-IR colors have very small errors, due largely to the all-sky photometric calibration of the 2MASS survey, while the V-IR colors have substantially larger uncertainties. We find fairly good agreement with measurements of integrated-light colors for a smaller sample of Galactic globular clusters by M. Aaronson, M. Malkan, and D. Kleinmann from 1977. Our results provide a calibration for the integrated light of distant single-burst old stellar populations from very low to solar metallicities. A comparison of our dereddened measured colors with predictions from several models of the integrated light of single-burst old populations shows good agreement in the low-metallicity domain for V-K_s colors but also shows an offset at a fixed [Fe/H] of ~0.1 mag in J-K_s, which we ascribe to photometric system transformation issues. Some of the models fail to reproduce the behavior of the integrated-light colors of the Galactic globular clusters near solar metallicity
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