We present the results from a detailed analysis of photometric and spectrophotometric data on five Seyfert 1 galaxies observed as a part of a recent reverberation mapping program. The data were ...collected at several observatories over a 140 day span beginning in 2010 August and ending in 2011 January. We obtained high sampling-rate light curves for Mrk 335, Mrk 1501, 3C 120, Mrk 6, and PG 2130+099, from which we have measured the time lag between variations in the 5100 Angstrom continuum and the H beta broad emission line. We then used these measurements to calculate the mass of the supermassive black hole at the center of each of these galaxies. Our new measurements substantially improve previous measurements of M sub(BH) and the size of the broad line-emitting region for four sources and add a measurement for one new object. Our new measurements are consistent with photoionization physics regulating the location of the broad line region in active galactic nuclei.
We present the results of concurrent X-ray and optical monitoring of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 79 over a period of more than 5 yr. We find that on short to medium time-scales (days to a few tens of ...days) the 2–10 keV X-ray and optical u- and V-band fluxes are significantly correlated, with a delay between the bands consistent with 0 d. We show that most of these variations may be well reproduced by a model where the short-term optical variations originate from reprocessing of X-rays by an optically thick accretion disc. The optical light curves, however, also display long time-scale variations over thousands of days, which are not present in the X-ray light curve. These optical variations must originate from an independent variability mechanism and we show that they can be produced by variations in the (geometrically) thin disc accretion rate as well as by varying reprocessed fractions through changes in the location of the X-ray corona.
We discuss the origin of the optical variations in the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4051 and present the results of a cross-correlation study using X-ray and optical light curves spanning more ...than 12 years. The emission is highly variable in all wavebands, and the amplitude of the optical variations is found to be smaller than that of the X-rays, even after correcting for the contaminating host galaxy flux falling inside the photometric aperture. The optical power spectrum is best described by an unbroken power-law model with slope α= 1.4+0.6−0.2 and displays lower variability power than the 2–10 keV X-rays on all time-scales probed. We find the light curves to be significantly correlated at an optical delay of 1.2+1.0−0.3 d behind the X-rays. This time-scale is consistent with the light traveltime to the optical emitting region of the accretion disc, suggesting that the optical variations are driven by X-ray reprocessing. We show, however, that a model whereby the optical variations arise from reprocessing by a flat accretion disc cannot account for all the optical variability. There is also a second significant peak in the cross-correlation function, at an optical delay of 39+2.7−8.4 d. The lag is consistent with the dust sublimation radius in this source, suggesting that there is a measurable amount of optical flux coming from the dust torus. We discuss the origin of the additional optical flux in terms of reprocessing of X-rays and reflection of optical light by the dust.
We present a theoretical model for supernova SN 2008D associated with the luminous X-ray transient 080109. The bolometric light curve and optical spectra of the SN are modeled based on the progenitor ...models and the explosion models obtained from hydrodynamic/nucleosynthetic calculations. We find that SN 2008D is a more energetic explosion than normal core-collapse supernovae, with an ejecta mass of M ej = 5.3 ± 1.0 M and a kinetic energy of E K = 6.0 ± 2.5 X 1051 erg. The progenitor star of the SN has a 6-8 M He core with essentially no H envelope (<5 X 10-4 M ) prior to the explosion. The main-sequence mass of the progenitor is estimated to be M MS = 20-25 M , with additional systematic uncertainties due to convection, mass loss, rotation, and binary effects. These properties are intermediate between those of normal SNe and hypernovae associated with gamma-ray bursts. The mass of the central remnant is estimated as 1.6-1.8 M , which is near the boundary between neutron star and black hole formation.
We present observations and analysis of the broad-band afterglow of Swift GRB 071025. Using optical and infrared (RIYJHK) photometry, we derive a photometric redshift of 4.4 < z < 5.2; at this ...redshift our simultaneous multicolour observations begin at ∼30 s after the gamma-ray burst trigger in the host frame, during the initial rising phase of the afterglow. We associate the light-curve peak at ∼580 s in the observer frame with the formation of the forward shock, giving an estimate of the initial Lorentz factor Γ0∼ 200. The red spectral energy distribution (even in regions not affected by the Lyman α break) provides secure evidence of a large dust column. However, the inferred extinction curve shows a prominent flat component between 2000 and 3000 Å in the rest frame, inconsistent with any locally observed template but well fitted by models of dust formed by supernovae. Time-dependent fits to the extinction profile reveal no evidence of dust destruction and limit the decrease in the extinction column to ΔA3000 < 0.54 mag after t= 50 s in the rest frame. Together with studies of high-z quasars, our observations suggest a transition in dust properties in the early Universe, possibly associated with a transition between supernova-dominated and asymptotic giant branch-dominated modes of dust production.
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