Power density spectrum of NGC 5548 and the nature of its variability

Abstract

We derive power density spectra in the optical and X-ray band in the timescale range from several years down to $\sim$ a day. We suggest that the optical power density spectrum consists of two separate components: long timescale variations and short timescale variations, with the dividing timescale around 100 days. The shape of the short timescale component is similar to X-ray power density spectrum which is consistent with the interpretation of short timescale optical variations being caused by X-ray reprocessing. We show that the observed optical long timescale variability is consistent with thermal pulsations of the accretion disc.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ