2,153 research outputs found
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
A complete sample of Seyfert galaxies selected at 1/4 keV
We have used the ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue to extract a complete sample
of sources selected in the band from 0.1-0.4 keV. This 1/4 keV-selected sample
is comprised of 54 Seyfert galaxies, 25 BL Lacertae objects, 4 clusters and 27
Galactic stars or binaries. Seyfert-type galaxies with ``ultrasoft'' X-ray
spectra can very often be classed optically as Narrow-line Seyfert 1s (NLS1s).
Such objects are readily detected in 1/4 keV surveys; the sample reported here
contains 20 NLS1s, corresponding to a 40% fraction of the Seyferts. Optical
spectra of the Seyfert galaxies were gathered for correlative analysis, which
confirmed the well-known relations between X-ray slope and optical spectral
properties (e.g., [O III]/H-beta ratio; Fe II strength, H-beta width). The
various intercorrelations are most likely driven, fundamentally, by the shape
of the photoionising continuum in Seyfert nuclei. We argue that a steep X-ray
spectrum is a better indicator of an ``extreme'' set of physical properties in
Seyfert galaxies than is the narrowness of the optical H-beta line. (Abridged)Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
On the relation between the IR continuum and the active galactic nucleus in Seyfert galaxies
A sample of the brightest known Seyfert galaxies from the CfA sample is
analyzed on the basis of ISO photometric and spectroscopic data.
Regardless of the Seyfert type, the mid-IR continuum emission from these
galaxies is found to be correlated with the coronal line emission arising in
the nuclear active region. Conversely, the correlation degrades progressively
when moving from the mid- to the far-IR emission, where it ends to vanish. It
is concluded that the mid-IR emission is largely dominated by dust heated by
processes associated with the active nucleus whereas the far-IR is a different
component most probably unrelated with the active region. We suggest that the
far-IR component is due to dust heated by the stellar population in the disks
of these galaxies.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures To be published in Astronomy and Astrophysic
The X-Ray Spectral Variability of Mrk 766
Analysis results from ASCA and ROSAT observations of the narrow-line Seyfert
1 galaxy Mrk 766 are reported. In the ASCA observation we observed rapid
variability with a doubling time scale of 1000 seconds. A spectral variability
event was observed in which the spectrum softened and hardened above and below
~1 keV, respectively, as the flux increased. The spectra could be modeled with
5 components: a power law, warm absorber, iron K(alpha) line and soft excess
component flux. The spectral variability resulted from a highly significant
change in the intrinsic photon law index from Gamma ~1.6 to ~2.0, an increase
in the warm absorber ionization, and a marginally significant decrease in the
soft component normalization. A ~100 eV equivalent width narrow iron K(alpha)
line was detected in the high state spectrum. Spectral hardening during flux
increases was observed in three ROSAT observations.
The change in intrinsic photon index and disappearance of the soft excess
component in the ASCA spectra can be explained as a transition from a first
order pair reprocessed spectrum to a pair cascade brought about by a sudden
increase in the injected electron Lorentz factor. The change in the ionization
of the warm absorber, though model dependent, could correspond to the increase
in flux at the oxygen edges resulting from the spectral index change. The ROSAT
spectral variability can be interpreted by variable intensity hard power law
and a relatively nonvarying soft component, possibly primary disk emission.
These results are compared with those reported from other narrow-line Seyfert 1
galaxies.Comment: 29 pages using (AASTeX) aaspp4.sty and 18 Postscript figures. To
appear in the September 1, 1996, issue of The Astrophysical Journa
Potential for cogeneration of heat and electricity in California industry, phase 2
The nontechnical issues of industrial cogeneration for 12 California firms were analyzed under three categories of institutional settings: (1) industrial ownership without firm sales of power; (2) industrial ownership with firm sales of power; and (3) utility or third party ownership. Institutional issues were analyzed from the independent viewpoints of the primary parties of interest: the industrial firms, the electric utilities and the California Public utilities Commission. Air quality regulations and the agencies responsible for their promulgation were examined, and a life cycle costing model was used to evaluate the economic merits of representative conceptual cogeneration systems at these sites. Specific recommendations were made for mitigating measures and regulatory action relevant to industrial cogeneration in California
Simultaneous EUV and X-ray variability of NGC 4051
We present a flux variability study of simultaneous RXTE and EUVE
observations of the highly variable Seyfert galaxy NGC4051. We find a strong
correlation between variability in the EUV and medium energy X-ray
bands,indicating that both are sampling the same power-law continuum. The lag
between the two bands is less than 20 ks and, depending on model assumptions,
may be <1 ks. We examine the consequences of such a small lag in the context of
simple Comptonisation models for the production of the power-law continuum. A
lag of <1 ks implies that the size of the Comptonising region is less than 20
Schwarzschild radii for a black hole of mass >1E6 solar masses.Comment: 8 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA
Complex X-ray spectral variability in Mkn 421 observed with XMM-Newton
The bright blazar Mkn 421 has been observed four times for uninterrupted
durations of ~ 9 - 13 hr during the performance verification and calibration
phases of the XMM-Newton mission. The source was strongly variable in all
epochs, with variability amplitudes that generally increased to higher energy
bands. Although the detailed relationship between soft (0.1 - 0.75 keV) and
hard (2 - 10 keV) band differed from one epoch to the next, in no case was
there any evidence for a measurable interband lag, with robust upper limits of
hr in the best-correlated light curves. This is in conflict
with previous claims of both hard and soft lags of ~1 hr in this and other
blazars. However, previous observations suffered a repeated 1.6 hr feature
induced by the low-Earth orbital period, a feature that is not present in the
uninterrupted XMM-Newton data. The new upper limit on leads to a lower
limit on the magnetic field strength and Doppler factor of B \delta^{1/3} \gs
4.7 G, mildly out of line with the predictions from a variety of homogeneous
synchrotron self-Compton emission models in the literature of G. Time-dependent spectral fitting was performed on all epochs,
and no detectable spectral hysteresis was seen. We note however that the source
exhibited significantly different spectral evolutionary behavior from one epoch
to the next, with the strongest correlations in the first and last and an
actual divergance between soft and hard X-ray bands in the third. This
indicates that the range of spectral variability behavior in Mkn 421 is not
fully described in these short snippets; significantly longer uninterrupted
light curves are required, and can be obtained with XMM-Newton.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, accepted for ApJ, scheduled for August 1, 200
On the relation between the coronal line emission and the IR/X-ray emission in Seyfert galaxies
The relation between the X-ray, the coronal line and the infrared (IR)
emissions in a sample of the brightest known Seyfert galaxies is analysed. A
close relationship between the absorption-corrected soft X-ray emission and
both the mid-IR and the coronal line emission is found for the Seyfert type 2
objects in the sample. The coronal line and the X-ray emissions are both main
tracers of the central activity, hence their relationship with the mid-IR
emission points to nuclear energetic process as the main responsibles of the
heating of the circumnuclear dust. On the other hand, the above relations do
not seem to hold for the Seyfert type 1 discussed in the sample, at least when
the comparisons are done in a flux diagram. This is partially because of the
reduced number of objects of this type analysed in this work and the fact that
the measured soft X-ray emission in Seyfert 1s is systematically larger, by at
least an order of magnitude, than that in the Seyfert 2 counterparts. Finally,
the hard X-ray emission in the studied sample appears unrelated to either the
mid-IR or the coronal line emission.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures To be published in MNRAS (accepted
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