Over three quarters in 2010-2011, Kepler monitored optical emission from four active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with ~30 minute sampling, >90% duty cycle, and 0.1% repeatability. These data determined ...the AGN optical fluctuation power spectral density (PSD) functions over a wide range in temporal frequency. Fits to these PSDs yielded power-law slopes of --2.6 to --3.3, much steeper than typically seen in the X-rays. We find evidence that individual AGNs exhibit intrinsically different PSD slopes. The steep PSD fits are a challenge to recent AGN variability models but seem consistent with first-order magnetorotational instability theoretical calculations of accretion disk fluctuations.
Recent X-ray observations show absorbing winds with velocities up to mildly relativistic values of the order of ∼0.1c in a limited sample of six broad-line radio galaxies. They are observed as ...blueshifted Fe xxv–xxvi K-shell absorption lines, similarly to the ultrafast outflows (UFOs) reported in Seyferts and quasars. In this work we extend the search for such Fe K absorption lines to a larger sample of 26 radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) observed with XMM–Newton and Suzaku. The sample is drawn from the Swift Burst Alert Telescope 58-month catalogue and blazars are excluded. X-ray bright Fanaroff–Riley Class II radio galaxies constitute the majority of the sources. Combining the results of this analysis with those in the literature we find that UFOs are detected in >27 per cent of the sources. However, correcting for the number of spectra with insufficient signal-to-noise ratio, we can estimate that the incidence of UFOs is this sample of radio-loud AGN is likely in the range f ≃ (50 ± 20) per cent. A photoionization modelling of the absorption lines with xstar allows us to estimate the distribution of their main parameters. The observed outflow velocities are broadly distributed between v
out ≲ 1000 km s−1 and v
out ≃ 0.4c, with mean and median values of v
out ≃ 0.133c and v
out ≃ 0.117c, respectively. The material is highly ionized, with an average ionization parameter of logξ ≃ 4.5 erg s−1 cm, and the column densities are larger than N
H > 1022 cm−2. Overall, these characteristics are consistent with the presence of complex accretion disc winds in a significant fraction of radio-loud AGN and demonstrate that the presence of relativistic jets does not preclude the existence of winds, in accordance with several theoretical models.
We present a study of the radial velocity offsets between narrow emission lines and host galaxy lines (stellar absorption and H I 21 cm emission) in Seyfert galaxies with observed redshifts less than ...0.043. We find that 35% of the Seyferts in the sample show O III emission lines with blueshifts with respect to their host galaxies exceeding 50 km s-1, whereas only 6% show redshifts this large, in qualitative agreement with most previous studies. We also find that a greater percentage of Seyfert 1 galaxies show blueshifts than Seyfert 2 galaxies. Using Hubble Spce Talescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph spatially resolved spectra of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 and the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4151, we generate geometric models of their narrow-line regions (NLRs) and inner galactic disks, and show how these models can explain the blueshifted O III emission lines in collapsed STIS spectra of these two Seyferts. We conclude that the combination of mass outflow of ionized gas in the NLR and extinction by dust in the inner disk (primarily in the form of dust spirals) is primarily responsible for the velocity offsets in Seyfert galaxies. More exotic explanations are not needed. We discuss the implications of this result for the velocity offsets found in higher redshift active galactic nuclei.
We use highly spectroscopically complete deep and wide-area Chandra surveys to determine the cosmic evolution of hard X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs). For the deep fields, we supplement ...the spectroscopic redshifts with photometric redshifts to assess where the unidentified sources are likely to lie. We find that the median redshifts are fairly constant with X-ray flux at z ~ 1.
Abstract
Detections of the tidal disruption flares (TDFs) of stars by supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are rapidly accumulating as optical surveys improve. These detections may provide constraints on ...SMBH demographics, stellar dynamics, and stellar evolution in galaxies. To maximize this scientific impact, we require a better understanding of how astrophysical parameters interact with survey selection effects in setting the properties of detected flares. We develop a framework for modeling the distributions of optical TDF detections in surveys across attributes of the host galaxies and the flares themselves. This model folds in effects of the stellar disruption rate in each galaxy, the flare luminosity and temperature distributions, the effects of obscuration and reddening by dust in the host galaxy, and survey selection criteria. We directly apply this model to the sample of TDFs detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility, and find that the overall flare detection rate is in line with simple theoretical expectation. The model can also reproduce the distribution of total stellar mass and redshift of the host galaxies, but fails to match all details of the detected flares, such as their luminosity and temperature distributions. We also find that dust obscuration likely plays an important role in suppressing the TDF detection rate in star-forming galaxies. While we do not find that the unusual preference of TDFs to have hosts in post-starburst galaxies in the “green valley” can be entirely explained by selection effects, our model can help to quantify the true rate enhancement in those galaxies.
We present the results of a uniform and systematic search for blueshifted Fe K absorption lines in the X-ray spectra of five bright broad-line radio galaxies observed with Suzaku. We detect, for the ...first time in radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at X-rays, several absorption lines at energies greater than 7 keV in three out of five sources, namely, 3C 111, 3C 120, and 3C 390.3. The lines are detected with high significance according to both the F-test and extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Their likely interpretation as blueshifted Fe XXV and Fe XXVI K-shell resonance lines implies an origin from highly ionized gas outflowing with mildly relativistic velocities, in the range v {approx_equal} 0.04-0.15c. A fit with specific photoionization models gives ionization parameters in the range log {xi} {approx_equal} 4-5.6 erg s{sup -1} cm and column densities of N {sub H} {approx_equal} 10{sup 22}-10{sup 23} cm{sup -2}. These characteristics are very similar to those of the ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) previously observed in radio-quiet AGNs. Their estimated location within {approx}0.01-0.3 pc of the central super-massive black hole suggests a likely origin related with accretion disk winds/outflows. Depending on the absorber covering fraction, the mass outflow rate of these UFOs can be comparable to the accretion rate and their kinetic power can correspond to a significant fraction of the bolometric luminosity and is comparable to their typical jet power. Therefore, these UFOs can play a significant role in the expected feedback from the AGN to the surrounding environment and can give us further clues on the relation between the accretion disk and the formation of winds/jets in both radio-quiet and radio-loud AGNs.
The Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) 9-month catalogue of active galactic nuclei (AGN) provides an unbiased census of local supermassive black hole accretion, and probes to all but the highest ...levels of absorption in AGN. We explore a method for characterizing the bolometric output of both obscured and unobscured AGN by combining the hard X-ray data from the Swift/BAT instrument (14–195keV) with the reprocessed infrared (IR) emission as seen with the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) all-sky surveys. This approach bypasses the complex modifications to the spectral energy distribution introduced by absorption in the optical, UV and 0.1–10 keV regimes and provides a long-term, average picture of the bolometric output of these sources. We broadly follow the approach of Pozzi et al. for calculating the bolometric luminosities by adding nuclear IR and hard X-ray luminosities, and consider different approaches for removing non-nuclear contamination in the large-aperture IRAS fluxes. Using mass estimates from the black hole mass-host galaxy bulge luminosity relation, we present the Eddington ratios λEdd and 2–10 keV bolometric corrections for a subsample of 63 AGN (35 obscured and 28 unobscured) from the Swift/BAT catalogue, and confirm previous indications of a low Eddington ratio distribution for both samples. Importantly, we find a tendency for low bolometric corrections (typically 10–30) for the obscured AGN in the sample (with a possible rise from ∼15 for λEdd < 0.03 to ∼32 above this), providing a hitherto unseen window on to accretion processes in this class of AGN. This finding is of key importance in calculating the expected local black hole mass density from the X-ray background since it is composed of emission from a significant population of such obscured AGN. Analogous studies with high-resolution IR data and a range of alternative models for the torus emission will form useful future extensions to this work.
THE 70 MONTH SWIFT-BAT ALL-SKY HARD X-RAY SURVEY Baumgartner, W. H.; Tueller, J.; Markwardt, C. B. ...
The Astrophysical journal. Supplement series,
08/2013, Letnik:
207, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
ABSTRACTWe present the catalog of sources detected in 70 months of observations with the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) hard X-ray detector on the Swift gamma-ray burst observatory. The Swift-BAT 70 ...month survey has detected 1171 hard X-ray sources (more than twice as many sources as the previous 22 month survey) in the 14-195 keV band down to a significance level of 4.8σ, associated with 1210 counterparts. The 70 month Swift-BAT survey is the most sensitive and uniform hard X-ray all-sky survey and reaches a flux level of 1.03 × 10−11 erg s−1 cm−2 over 50% of the sky and 1.34 × 10−11 erg s−1 cm−2 over 90% of the sky. The majority of new sources in the 70 month survey continue to be active galactic nuclei, with over 700 in the catalog. As part of this new edition of the Swift-BAT catalog, we also make available eight-channel spectra and monthly sampled light curves for each object detected in the survey in the online journal and at the Swift-BAT 70 month Web site.
We present near-infrared (NIR) spectra of four optically elusive active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and four X-ray bright, optically normal galaxies (XBONGs) from the Swift-BAT survey. With archival ...observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, Spitzer, and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), we test a number of AGN indicators in the NIR and mid-infrared; namely, NIR emission line diagnostic ratios, the presence of coronal high-ionization lines, and infrared photometry. Of our eight hard X-ray selected AGNs, we find that optical normalcy has a variety of causes from object to object, and no one explanation applies. Our objects have normal Eddington ratios and so are unlikely to host radiatively inefficient accretion flows. It is unlikely that star formation in the host or starlight dilution is contributing to their failure of optical diagnostics, except perhaps in two cases. The NIR continua are well fit by two blackbodies: one at the stellar temperature, and a hot dust component near the dust sublimation temperature. The XBONGs are more likely to have significant hot dust components, while these components are small relative to starlight in the optically elusive AGN. Some of our sample have NIR line ratios typical of AGNs, but NIR diagnostics are unsuccessful in distinguishing H II regions from AGNs in general. In one object, we discover a hidden broad-line region in the NIR. These results have strong relevance to the origin of optically normal AGNs in deep X-ray surveys.
We present simultaneous optical-to-X-ray spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from Swift's X-ray and UV–optical telescopes (XRTs and UVOTs) for a well-selected sample of 26 low-redshift (z < 0.1) ...active galactic nuclei (AGN) from the Swift/Burst Alert Telescope 9-month catalogue, the largest well-studied, hard X-ray-selected survey of local AGN to date. Our sub-sample consists of AGN with low intrinsic X-ray absorption (NH < 1022 cm−2) and minimal spectral complexity, to more accurately recover the intrinsic accretion luminosity in these sources. We perform a correction for host galaxy contamination in all available UVOT filter images to recover the intrinsic AGN emission and estimate intrinsic dust extinction from the resultant nuclear SEDs. Black hole mass estimates are determined from the host galaxy Two-Micron All-Sky Survey K-band bulge luminosity. Accretion rates determined from our SEDs are on average low (Eddington ratios λEdd≲ 0.1) and hard X-ray bolometric corrections cluster at ∼10–20, in contrast with the higher values seen for quasars. An average SED for the 22 low accretion rate (λEdd < 0.1) objects is presented, with and without correction for extinction. Significant dust reddening is found in some objects despite the selection of low NH objects, emphasizing the complex relationship between these two types of absorption. We do not find a correlation of the optical-to-X-ray spectral index with the Eddington ratio, regardless of the optical reference wavelength chosen for defining the spectral index. An anticorrelation of bolometric correction with black hole mass may reinforce ‘cosmic downsizing’ scenarios, since the higher bolometric corrections at low mass would boost accretion rates in local, lower mass black holes. We also perform a basic analysis of the UVOT-derived host galaxy colours for our sample and find hosts cluster near the ‘green valley’ of the colour–magnitude diagram, but better quality images are needed for a more definitive analysis. The low accretion rates and bolometric corrections found for this representative low-redshift sample are of particular importance for studies of AGN accretion history.
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