79 research outputs found
Calibration of AGN Reverberation Distance Measurements
In Yoshii et al. (2014), we described a new method for measuring
extragalactic distances based on dust reverberation in active galactic nuclei
(AGNs), and we validated our new method with Cepheid variable stars. In this
paper, we validate our new method with Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) which
occurred in two of the AGN host galaxies during our AGN monitoring program: SN
2004bd in NGC 3786 and SN 2008ec in NGC 7469. Their multicolor light curves
were observed and analyzed using two widely accepted methods for measuring SN
distances, and the distance moduli derived are for SN
2004bd and for SN 2008ec. These results are used to obtain
independently the distance measurement calibration factor, . The value
obtained from the SN Ia discussed in this paper is
which matches, within the range of 1 uncertainty, , previously calculated ab initio in Yoshii et al. (2014). Having
validated our new method for measuring extragalactic distances, we use our new
method to calibrate reverberation distances derived from variations of H
emission in the AGN broad line region (BLR), extending the Hubble diagram to
where distinguishing between cosmologies is becoming possible.Comment: Astrophysical Journal Letters accepte
First Detection of Near-Infrared Intraday Variations in the Seyfert 1 Nucleus NGC4395
We carried out a one-night optical V and near-infrared JHK monitoring
observation of the least luminous Seyfert 1 galaxy, NGC4395, on 2004 May 1, and
detected for the first time the intraday flux variations in the J and H bands,
while such variation was not clearly seen for the K band. The detected J and H
variations are synchronized with the flux variation in the V band, which
indicates that the intraday-variable component of near-infrared continuum
emission of the NGC4395 nucleus is an extension of power-law continuum emission
to the near-infrared and originates in an outer region of the central accretion
disk. On the other hand, from our regular program of long-term optical BVI and
near-infrared JHK monitoring observation of NGC4395 from 2004 February 12 until
2005 January 22, we found large flux variations in all the bands on time scales
of days to months. The optical BVI variations are almost synchronized with each
other, but not completely with the near-infrared JHK variations. The color
temperature of the near-infrared variable component is estimated to be
T=1320-1710 K, in agreement with thermal emission from hot dust tori in active
galactic nuclei (AGNs). We therefore conclude that the near-infrared variation
consists of two components having different time scales, so that a small K-flux
variation on a time scale of a few hours would possibly be veiled by large
variation of thermal dust emission on a time scale of days.Comment: 4 pages including figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
Variation of Inner Radius of Dust Torus in NGC4151
The long-term optical and near infrared monitoring observations for a type 1
act ive galactic nucleus NGC 4151 were carried out for six years from 2001 to
2006 b y using the MAGNUM telescope, and delayed response of flux variations in
the band to those in the band was clearly
detected. Based on cross correlation analysis, we precisely measured a lag time
for eight separate periods, and we found that is not
constant changing be tween 30 and 70 days during the monitoring period. Since
is the ligh t travel time from the central energy source out to the
surrounding dust torus, this is the first convincing evidence that the inner
radius of dust torus did ch ange in an individual AGN. In order to relate such
a change of with a change of AGN luminosity , we presented a
method of taking an average of th e observed -band fluxes that corresponds
to the measured value of , and we found that the time-changing track
of NGC 4151 in the versus diagram during the monitoring period
deviates from the relation of expected from dust
reverberation. This result, combined with t he elapsed time from period to
period for which was measured, indicat es that the timescale of dust
formation is about one year, which should be taken into account as a new
constraint in future studies of dust evolution in AGNs.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, To appear in the ApJ Lette
The Infrared Cloud Monitor for the MAGNUM Robotic Telescope at Haleakala
We present the most successful infrared cloud monitor for a robotic
telescope. This system was originally developed for the MAGNUM 2-m telescope,
which has been achieving unmanned and automated monitoring observation of
active galactic nuclei at Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui since 2001.
Using a thermal imager and two aspherical mirrors, it at once sees almost the
whole sky at a wavelength of . Its outdoor part is
weather-proof and is totally maintenance-free. The images obtained every one or
two minutes are analysed immediately into several ranks of weather condition,
from which our automated observing system not only decides to open or close the
dome, but also selects what types of observations should be done. The whole-sky
data accumulated over four years show that 5060 % of all nights are
photometric, and about 75 % are observable with respect to cloud condition at
Haleakala. Many copies of this system are now used all over the world such as
Mauna Kea in Hawaii, Atacama in Chile, and Okayama and Kiso in Japan.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in PAS
JHK' Imaging Photometry of Seyfert 1 AGNs and Quasars I: Multi-Aperture Photometry
Near-infrared imaging photometry was obtained of 331 AGNs consisting
mainly of Seyfert 1 AGNs and quasars (QSOs). This sample was selected to cover
a range of radio emission strength, redshift from to 1, and absolute
-magnitude from mag to -18 mag. Among low- AGNs with ,
Seyfert AGNs are distributed over a region from a location typical of
``galaxies'' to a location typical of ``QSOs'' in the two-color to
diagram, but Seyfert AGNs are distributed around the location of
``galaxies''. Moreover, bright AGNs with respect to absolute -magnitude are
distributed near the location of ``QSOs'', while faint AGNs are near the
location of ``galaxies''. The distribution of such low- AGNs in this diagram
was found to have little dependence on their 6 cm radio flux. The near-infrared
colors of the AGNs observed with an aperture of 7 pixels () are more
QSO-like than those observed with larger apertures up to 15 pixels ().
This aperture effect may be explained by contamination from the light of host
galaxies within larger apertures. This effect is more prominent for less
luminous AGNs
Visual Abductive Reasoning Meets Driving Hazard Prediction: Problem Formulation and Dataset
This paper addresses the problem of predicting hazards that drivers may
encounter while driving a car. We formulate it as a task of anticipating
impending accidents using a single input image captured by car dashcams. Unlike
existing approaches to driving hazard prediction that rely on computational
simulations or anomaly detection from videos, this study focuses on high-level
inference from static images. The problem needs predicting and reasoning about
future events based on uncertain observations, which falls under visual
abductive reasoning. To enable research in this understudied area, a new
dataset named the DHPR (Driving Hazard Prediction and Reasoning) dataset is
created. The dataset consists of 15K dashcam images of street scenes, and each
image is associated with a tuple containing car speed, a hypothesized hazard
description, and visual entities present in the scene. These are annotated by
human annotators, who identify risky scenes and provide descriptions of
potential accidents that could occur a few seconds later. We present several
baseline methods and evaluate their performance on our dataset, identifying
remaining issues and discussing future directions. This study contributes to
the field by introducing a novel problem formulation and dataset, enabling
researchers to explore the potential of multi-modal AI for driving hazard
prediction.Comment: Main Paper: 10 pages, Supplementary Materials: 25 page
The Optical/Near-Infrared Light Curves of SN 2002ap for the First 1.5 Years after Discovery
Late-time BVRIJHK photometry of the peculiar Type Ic SN 2002ap, taken between
2002 June 12 and 2003 August 29 with the MAGNUM telescope, is presented. The
light curve decline rate is derived in each band and the color evolution is
studied through comparison with nebular spectra and with SN 1998bw. Using the
photometry, the OIR bolometric light curve is built, extending from before
light maximum to day 580 after explosion. The light curve has a late-time shape
strikingly similar to that of the hypernova SN 1998bw. The decline rate changes
from 0.018 mag/day between day 130 and 230 to 0.014 mag/day between day 270 and
580. To reproduce the late-time light curve, a dense core must be added to the
1-D hypernova model that best fits the early-time observations, bringing the
ejecta mass from 2.5 Msun to 3 Msun without much change in the kinetic energy,
which is 4 times 10^51 ergs. This is similar to the case of other hypernovae
and suggests asymmetry. A large H-band bump developed in the spectral energy
distribution after about day 300, probably caused by strong [Si I] 1.646 micron
and 1.608 micron emissions. The near-infrared flux contribution increased
simultaneously from 50% at day 580. The near-infrared light curves
were compared with those of other Type Ib/c supernovae, among which SN 1983I
seems similar to SN 2002ap both in the near-infrared and in the optical.Comment: 24pages, 9 figures, ApJ in press (10 June 2006, v644 1 issue).
Acknowledgements update
Imaging Photometry of Seyfert 1 AGNs and Quasars II: Observation of Long-Term Variability
Observations of 226 AGNs in the near-infrared , , and bands are
presented along with the analysis of the observations for variability. Our
sample consists mainly of Seyfert 1 AGNs and QSOs. About a quarter of the
objects in each category are radio loud. The AGNs in the entire sample have the
redshifts spanning the range from to 1, and the absolute magnitudes from
to -18. All the objects were observed twice and their variability was
measured by differential photometry.
A reduction method of differential photometry, optimized to the analysis of
extended images, has been developed. The systematic error in variability
arising from AGNs of highly extended images is estimated to be less than 0.01
mag in each of the , , and bands. The systematic error arising from
the flat fielding is negligible for most AGNs, although it is more than 0.1 mag
for some particular cases. The overall average flat fielding error is 0.03 mag
for the image pairs. We find that these systematic errors are superseded by
statistical errors, and the overall average total systematic and statistical
errors amounts to 0.05 mag in the measured variability in each band.
We find that 58% of all the AGNs in the entire sample show variability of
more than , and 44% of more than . This result holds
independent of the , , and bands. The detection rate of variability
is higher for a subsample of higher photometric accuracy, and there appears no
limit to this tendency. In particular, when we consider a subsample with small
photometric errors of mag, the rate of detection is
80%, and 64% for detection. This suggests that most AGNs are variable
in the near-infrared
- …