257 research outputs found
Detailed Analysis of Balmer Lines in a Sloan Digital Sky Survey Sample of 90 Broad Line Active Galactic Nuclei
In order to contribute to the general effort aiming at the improvement of our
knowledge about the physical conditions within the Broad Line Region (BLR) of
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), here we present the results achieved by our
analysis of the spectral properties of a sample of 90 broad line emitting
sources, collected at the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database. By focusing
our attention mainly onto the Balmer series of hydrogen emission lines, which
is the dominant feature in the optical wavelength range of many BLR spectra, we
extracted several flux and profile measurements, which we related to other
source properties, such as optical continuum luminosities, inferred black hole
masses, and accretion rates. Using the Boltzmann Plot method to investigate the
Balmer line flux ratios as a function of the line profiles, we found that
broader line emitting AGN typically have larger H_alpha / H_beta and smaller
H_gamma / H_beta and H_delta / H_beta line ratios. With the help of some recent
investigations, we model the structure of the BLR and we study the influence of
the accretion process on the properties of the BLR plasma.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, fixes the wrong names of 4 objects; published
on Ap
The symbiotic star H1-36. A composite model of line and continuum spectra from radio to ultraviolet
In this paper we analyse the spectra of D-type SS H1-36 within a
colliding-wind scenario. We aim to analyse the properties of this object taking
into account the observational data along the whole electromagnetic spectrum,
in order to derive a self-consistent picture able to interpret the nature of
the system as a whole. After constraining the relative physical conditions by
modelling more than 40 emission lines from radio to UV, we are able to explain
the continuum spectral energy distribution by taking into account all the
emitting contributions arising from both the stars, the dust shells and the
gaseous nebulae. A comprehensive model of the radio spectra allows to reproduce
the different slopes of the radio profile and the turnover frequency, as well
as the different size of the observed shocked envelope at different frequencies
in the light of the different contributions from the expanding and reverse
nebulae. The IR continuum unveils the presence of two dust shells with
different radii and temperatures, which might be a distinctive feature of
D-type symbiotic systems as a class of objects. The broad profiles of IR lines
direct us to investigate whether an X-ray jet may be present. This insight
leads us to indicate H1-36 as a promising X-ray target and to encourage
observations and studies which consistently take into account the complex
nature of symbiotic stars throughout the whole electromagnetic spectrum.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in A&A on 2th
May 200
Optical counterparts of undetermined type -ray Active Galactic Nuclei with blazar-like Spectral Energy Distributions
During its first four years of scientific observations, the Fermi Large Area
Telescope (Fermi-LAT) detected 3033 -ray sources above a 4
significance level. Although most of the extra-Galactic sources are active
galactic nuclei (AGN) of the blazar class, other families of AGNs are observed
too, while a still high fraction of detections () remains with
uncertain association or classification. According to the currently accepted
interpretation, the AGN -ray emission arises from inverse Compton (IC)
scattering of low energy photons by relativistic particles confined in a jet
that, in the case of blazars, is oriented very close to our line of sight.
Taking advantage of data from radio and X-ray wavelengths, which we expect to
be produced together with -rays, providing a much better source
localization potential, we focused our attention on a sample of -ray
Blazar Candidates of Undetermined Type (BCUs), starting a campaign of optical
spectroscopic observations. The main aims of our investigation include a census
of the AGN families that contribute to -ray emission and a study of
their redshift distribution, with the subsequent implications on the intrinsic
source power. We furthermore analyze which -ray properties can better
constrain the nature of the source, thus helping in the study of objects not
yet associated with a reliable low frequency counterpart. In this communication
we report on the instruments and techniques used to identify the optical
counterparts of -ray sources, we give an overview on the status of our
work, and we discuss the implications of a large scale study of -ray
emitting AGNs.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, proceedings of the 10th Serbian Conference on
Spectral Line Shapes in Astrophysics. JOAA, accepte
Optical Emission Lines and the X-Ray Properties of Type 1 Seyfert Galaxies
In this contribution we report on the study of the optical emission lines and
X-ray spectra of a sample of Type 1 AGNs, collected at the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey database and observed by the XMM Newton satellite. Exploiting the
different instruments carried onboard XMM, we identify the spectral components
of the soft and hard energy bands (in the range from 0.3 keV up to 10 keV). The
properties of the X-ray continuum and of the Fe Kalpha line feature are
investigated in relation to the optical broad emission line profiles and
intensity ratios. The resulting picture of emission, absorption and reflection
processes is interpreted by means of a BLR structural model that was developed
on the basis of independent optical and radio observations.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the VIII Serbian Conference on
Spectral Line Shapes in Astrophysics, accepted for publication on Baltic
Astronomy. Corrected typos in V
A spectroscopic analysis of a sample of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We revisited the spectroscopic characteristics of narrow-line Seyfert 1
galaxies (NLS1s) by analysing a homogeneous sample of 296 NLS1s at redshift
between 0.028 and 0.345, extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-DR7)
public archive. We confirm that NLS1s are mostly characterized by Balmer lines
with Lorentzian profiles, lower black hole masses and higher Eddington ratios
than classic broad-line Seyfert 1 (BLS1s), but they also appear to be active
galactic nuclei (AGNs) contiguous with BLS1s and sharing with them common
properties. Strong Fe II emission does not seem to be a distinctive property of
NLS1s, as low values of Fe II/H are equally observed in these AGNs. Our
data indicate that Fe II and Ca II kinematics are consistent with the one of
H. On the contrary, O I 8446 seems to be systematically
narrower and it is likely emitted by gas of the broad-line region more distant
from the ionizing source and showing different physical properties. Finally,
almost all NLS1s of our sample show radial motions of the narrow-line region
highly-ionised gas. The mechanism responsible for this effect is not yet clear,
but there are hints that very fast outflows require high continuum luminosities
(> erg/s) or high Eddington ratios (log(L/L)
> -0.1).Comment: 27 pages, 31 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Optical and infrared properties of V1647 Orionis during the 2003-2006 outburst. II. Temporal evolution of the eruptive source
The occurrence of new FU Orionis-like objects is fundamental to understand
the outburst mechanism in young stars and their role in star formation and disk
evolution. Our work is aimed at investigating the properties of the recent
outburst of V1647 Ori. Using optical and mid infrared long slit spectroscopy we
monitored V1647 Ori in outburst between February 2004 and January 2006. The
optical spectrum is characterized by Halpha and Hbeta in P-Cygni profile and by
many weak FeI and FeII emission lines. Short timescale variability was measured
in the continuum and line emission. On January 2006 we detected for the first
time forbidden emission lines ([OI], [SII] and [FeII]). These lines are likely
produced by an Herbig-Haro object driven by V1647 Ori. The mid infrared the
spectrum of V1647 Ori is flat and featureless at all epochs. The SED changed
drastically: the source was much redder in the early outburst than in the final
phase. The magnitude rise and the SED of V1647 Ori resembles that of a FUor
while the duration and recurrence of the outburst resemble that of a EXor. The
optical spectrum is clearly distinct from either the absorption line spectrum
of a FUor or the T Tauri-like spectrum of an EXor. Our data are consistent with
a disk instability event which led to an increase of the mass accretion rate.
The data also suggest the presence of a circumstellar envelope around the
star+disk system. The peculiar N band spectrum might be explained by dust
sublimation in the outer layers of the disk. The presence of the envelope and
the outburst statistics suggest that these instability events occur only in a
specific stage of a Class I source (e.g. in the transition phase to an
optically visible star surrounded by a protoplanetary disk). We discuss the
outburst mechanisms in term of the thermal instability model.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&
[O III] line properties in two samples of radio-emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies
The [O III] 4959,5007 lines are a useful proxy to test the
kinematic of the narrow-line region (NLR) in active galactic nuclei (AGN). In
AGN, and particularly in narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) these lines
often show few peculiar features, such as blue wings, often interpreted as
outflowing component, and a shift typically toward lower wavelengths of
the whole spectroscopic feature in some exceptional sources, the so-called blue
outliers, which are often associated to strong winds. We investigated the
incidence of these peculiarities in two samples of radio-emitting NLS1s, one
radio-loud and one radio-quiet. We also studied a few correlations between the
observational properties of the [O III] lines and those of the AGN. Our aim was
to understand the difference between radio-quiet and radio-loud NLS1s, which
may in turn provide useful information on the jet formation mechanism. We find
that the NLR gas is much more perturbed in radio-loud than in radio-quiet
NLS1s. In particular the NLR dynamics in -ray emitting NLS1s appears to
be highly disturbed, and this might be a consequence of interaction with the
relativistic jet. The less frequently perturbed NLR in radio-quiet NLS1s
suggests instead that these sources likely do not harbor a fully developed
relativistic jet. Nonetheless blue-outliers in radio-quiet NLS1s are observed,
and we interpret them as a product of strong winds.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication on Astronomy
& Astrophysic
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