We present the first results from a high sampling rate, multimonth reverberation mapping campaign undertaken primarily at MDM Observatory with supporting observations from telescopes around the ...world. The primary goal of this campaign was to obtain either new or improved H Delta *b reverberation lag measurements for several relatively low luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We feature results for NGC 4051 here because, until now, this object has been a significant outlier from AGN scaling relationships, e.g., it was previously a ~2-3 Delta *s outlier on the relationship between the broad-line region (BLR) radius and the optical continuum luminosity-the R BLR-L relationship. Our new measurements of the lag time between variations in the continuum and H Delta *b emission line made from spectroscopic monitoring of NGC 4051 lead to a measured BLR radius of R BLR = 1.87+0.54 -0.50 light days and black hole mass of M BH = (1.73+0.55 -0.52) X 106 M. This radius is consistent with that expected from the R BLR-L relationship, based on the present luminosity of NGC 4051 and the most current calibration of the relation by Bentz et al.. We also present a preliminary look at velocity-resolved H Delta *b light curves and time delay measurements, although we are unable to reconstruct an unambiguous velocity-resolved reverberation signal.
ABSTRACT
The existence of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos has been unambiguously demonstrated, but their sources remain elusive. IceCube reported an association of a 290-TeV neutrino with a ...gamma-ray flare of TXS 0506 + 056, an active galactic nucleus with a compact radio jet pointing to us. Later, radio-bright blazars were shown to be associated with IceCube neutrino events with high statistical significance. These associations remained unconfirmed with the data of independent experiments. Here, we report on the detection of a rare neutrino event with the estimated energy of 224 ± 75 TeV from the direction of TXS 0506 + 056 by the new Baikal Gigaton Volume Detector (Baikal-GVD) in April 2021. This event is the highest energy cascade detected so far by the Baikal-GVD neutrino telescope from a direction below horizon. The result supports previous suggestions that radio blazars in general, and TXS 0506 + 056 in particular, are the sources of high-energy neutrinos, and opens up the cascade channel for the neutrino astronomy.
Context. In spring 2005 the blazar 3C 454.3 was observed in an unprecedented bright state from the near-IR to the hard X-ray frequencies. A mm outburst peaked in June-July 2005, and it was followed ...by a flux increase at high radio frequencies. Aims. In this paper we report on multifrequency monitoring by the WEBT aimed at following the further evolution of the outburst in detail. In particular, we investigate the expected correlation and time delays between the optical and radio emissions in order to derive information on the variability mechanisms and jet structure. Methods. A comparison among the light curves at different frequencies is performed by means of visual inspection and discrete correlation function, and the results are interpreted with a simple model taking into account Doppler factor variations of geometric origin. Results. The high-frequency radio light curves show a huge outburst starting during the dimming phase of the optical one and lasting more than 1 year. The first phase is characterized by a slow flux increase, while in early 2006 a major flare is observed. The lower-frequency radio light curves show a progressively delayed and fainter event, which disappears below 8 GHz. We suggest that the radio major peak is not physically connected with the spring 2005 optical one, but it is actually correlated with a minor optical flare observed in October-November 2005. This interpretation involves both an intrinsic and a geometric mechanism. The former is represented by disturbances travelling down the emitting jet, the latter being due to the curved-jet motion, with the consequent differential changes of viewing angles of the different emitting regions.
The Baikal Gigaton Volume Detector (Baikal-GVD) is a km
3
-scale neutrino detector currently under construction in Lake Baikal, Russia. The detector consists of several thousand optical sensors ...arranged on vertical strings, with 36 sensors per string. The strings are grouped into clusters of 8 strings each. Each cluster can operate as a stand-alone neutrino detector. The detector layout is optimized for the measurement of astrophysical neutrinos with energies of
∼
100 TeV and above. Events resulting from charged current interactions of muon (anti-)neutrinos will have a track-like topology in Baikal-GVD. A fast
χ
2
-based reconstruction algorithm has been developed to reconstruct such track-like events. The algorithm has been applied to data collected in 2019 from the first five operational clusters of Baikal-GVD, resulting in observations of both downgoing atmospheric muons and upgoing atmospheric neutrinos. This serves as an important milestone towards experimental validation of the Baikal-GVD design. The analysis is limited to single-cluster data, favoring nearly-vertical tracks.
We analyse observations of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 covering 90 years in the optical band and 27 years in the 2–10 keV X-ray band. We compute the normalized power spectrum density, the structure ...function and the autocorrelation function for these data. The results show that the optical and X-ray variability properties are significantly different. X-ray variations are predominantly in the time-scale range of 5–1000 d. The optical variations also have a short time-scale component that may be related to X-ray variability, but the dominant effect is the long time-scale variability, with time-scales longer than ∼10 yr. We compare our results with observations of NGC 5548 and Cyg X-1. We conclude that the long time-scale variability may be caused by radiation pressure instability in the accretion disc, although the observed time-scale in NGC 4151 is by a factor of a few longer than expected. X-ray variability of this source is very similar to what is observed in Cyg X-1 but scaled with the mass of the black hole, which suggests that the radiation pressure instability does not affect the X-ray production considerably.
ABSTRACT
Baikal-GVD has recently published its first measurement of the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux, performed using high-energy cascade-like events. We further explore the Baikal-GVD cascade ...data set collected in 2018–2022, with the aim to identify possible associations between the Baikal-GVD neutrinos and known astrophysical sources. We leverage the relatively high angular resolution of the Baikal-GVD neutrino telescope (2–3 deg.), made possible by the use of liquid water as the detection medium, enabling the study of astrophysical point sources even with cascade events. We estimate the telescope’s sensitivity in the cascade channel for high-energy astrophysical sources and refine our analysis prescriptions using Monte-Carlo simulations. We primarily focus on cascades with energies exceeding 100 TeV, which we employ to search for correlation with radio-bright blazars. Although the currently limited neutrino sample size provides no statistically significant effects, our analysis suggests a number of possible associations with both extragalactic and Galactic sources. Specifically, we present an analysis of an observed triplet of neutrino candidate events in the Galactic plane, focusing on its potential connection with certain Galactic sources, and discuss the coincidence of cascades with several bright and flaring blazars.
We present velocity-resolved reverberation results for five active galactic nuclei. We recovered velocity-delay maps using the maximum entropy method for four objects: Mrk 335, Mrk 1501, 3C 120, and ...PG 2130+099. For the fifth, Mrk 6, we were only able to measure mean time delays in different velocity bins of the H beta emission line. The four velocity-delay maps show unique dynamical signatures for each object. For 3C 120, the Balmer lines show kinematic signatures consistent with both an inclined disk and infalling gas, but the He II lambda4686 emission line is suggestive only of inflow. The Balmer lines in Mrk 335, Mrk 1501, and PG 2130+099 show signs of infalling gas, but the He II emission in Mrk 335 is consistent with an inclined disk. We also see tentative evidence of combined virial motion and infalling gas from the velocity-binned analysis of Mrk 6. The maps for 3C 120 and Mrk 335 are two of the most clearly defined velocity-delay maps to date. These maps constitute a large increase in the number of objects for which we have resolved velocity-delay maps and provide evidence supporting the reliability of reverberation-based black hole mass measurements.
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.
A large reverberation-mapping study of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469 has yielded emission-line lags for Hβ λ4861 and He II λ4686 and a central black hole mass measurement M {sub BH} ≈ 1 × 10{sup 7} M ...{sub ☉}, consistent with previous measurements. A very low level of variability during the monitoring campaign precluded meeting our original goal of recovering velocity-delay maps from the data, but with the new Hβ measurement, NGC 7469 is no longer an outlier in the relationship between the size of the Hβ-emitting broad-line region and the luminosity of the active galactic nucleus. It was necessary to detrend the continuum and Hβ and He II λ4686 line light curves and those from archival UV data for different time-series analysis methods to yield consistent results.
Data are presented from observations in the B, V, R, and I bands of 234 comparison stars in the fields of 21 active galactic nuclei (AGN) with right ascensions from 9 to 24 hours over a wide range of ...stellar magnitudes. Most of the AGN are blazars and quasars. The B, V, R, and I magnitudes of the overwhelming majority of these stars were not known previously. Finding charts for these stars are provided. These observations can be used for differential photometry of galactic nuclei.
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