Optical and near-infrared photometry, optical spectroscopy, and soft X-ray and UV monitoring of the changing-look active galactic nucleus NGC 2617 show that it continues to have the appearance of a ...type-1 Seyfert galaxy. An optical light curve for 2010–2016 indicates that the change of type probably occurred between 2010 October and 2012 February and was not related to the brightening in 2013. In 2016, NGC 2617 brightened again to a level of activity close to that in 2013 April. We find variations in all passbands and in both the intensities and profiles of the broad Balmer lines. A new displaced emission peak has appeared in Hβ. X-ray variations are well correlated with UV–optical variability and possibly lead by ∼2–3 d. The K band lags the J band by about 21.5 ± 2.5 d and lags the combined B + J filters by ∼25 d. J lags B by about 3 d. This could be because J-band variability arises from the outer part of the accretion disc, while K-band variability comes from thermal re-emission by dust. We propose that spectral-type changes are a result of increasing central luminosity causing sublimation of the innermost dust in the hollow bi-conical outflow. We briefly discuss various other possible reasons that might explain the dramatic changes in NGC 2617.
ABSTRACT
We present the results of photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaigns of the changing look AGN NGC 2617 carried out from 2016 until 2022 and covering the wavelength range from the ...X-ray to the near-IR. The facilities included the telescopes of the SAI MSU, MASTER Global Robotic Net, the 2.3-m WIRO telescope, Swift, and others. We found significant variability at all wavelengths and, specifically, in the intensities and profiles of the broad Balmer lines. We measured time delays of ∼6 d (∼8 d) in the responses of the Hβ (Hα) line to continuum variations. We found the X-ray variations to correlate well with the UV and optical (with a small time delay of a few days for longer wavelengths). The K-band lagged the B band by 14 ± 4 d during the last three seasons, which is significantly shorter than the delays reported previously by the 2016 and 2017–2019 campaigns. Near-IR variability arises from two different emission regions: the outer part of the accretion disc and a more distant dust component. The HK-band variability is governed primarily by dust. The Balmer decrement of the broad-line components is inversely correlated with the UV flux. The change of the object’s type from Sy1 to Sy1.8 was recorded over a period of ∼8 yr. We interpret these changes as a combination of two factors: changes in the accretion rate and dust recovery along the line of sight.
New changing look case in NGC 1566 Oknyansky, V L; Winkler, H; Tsygankov, S S ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
02/2019, Volume:
483, Issue:
1
Journal Article
ABSTRACT
We present the results of photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaigns of the changing look AGN NGC 3516 carried out in 2018 to 2020 covering the wavelength range from the X-ray to the ...optical. The facilities included the telescopes of the CMO SAI MSU, the 2.3-m WIRO telescope, and the XRT and UVOT of Swift. We found that NGC 3516 brightened to a high state and could be classified as Sy1.5 during the late spring of 2020. We have measured time delays in the responses of the Balmer and He ii λ4686 lines to continuum variations. In the case of the best-characterized broad H β line, the delay to continuum variability is about 17 d in the blue wing and is clearly shorter, 9 d, in the red, which is suggestive of inflow. As the broad lines strengthened, the blue side came to dominate the Balmer lines, resulting in very asymmetric profiles with blueshifted peaks during this high state. During the outburst the X-ray flux reached its maximum on 2020 April 1 and it was the highest value ever observed for NGC 3516 by the Swift observatory. The X-ray hard photon index became softer, ∼1.8 in the maximum on 2020 April 21 compared to the mean ∼0.7 during earlier epochs before 2020. We have found that the UV and optical variations correlated well (with a small time delay of 1–2 d) with the X-ray until the beginning of 2020 April, but later, until the end of 2020 June, these variations were not correlated. We suggest that this fact may be a consequence of partial obscuration by Compton-thick clouds crossing the line of sight.
ABSTRACT
We present results of the long-term multiwavelength study of optical, UV, and X-ray variability of the nearby changing-look (CL) Seyfert NGC 1566 observed with the Swift Observatory and the ...MASTER Global Robotic Network from 2007 to 2019. We started spectral observations with South African Astronomical Observatory 1.9-m telescope soon after the brightening was discovered in July 2018 and present here the data for the interval between 2018 August and 2019 September. This paper concentrates on the remarkable post-maximum behaviour after 2018 July when all bands decreased with some fluctuations. We observed three significant re-brightenings in the post-maximum period during 2018 November 17–2019 January 10, 2019 April 29–2019 June 19, and 2019 July 27–2019 August 6. An X-ray flux minimum occurred in 2019 March. The UV minimum occurred about 3 months later. It was accompanied by a decrease of the LUV/LX-ray ratio. New post-maximum spectra covering (2018 November 31–2019 September 23) show dramatic changes compared to 2018 August 2, with fading of the broad lines and Fe X λ6374 until 2019 March. These lines became somewhat brighter in 2019 August–September. Effectively, two CL states were observed for this object: changing to type 1.2 and then returning to the low state as a type 1.8 Sy. We suggest that the changes are due mostly to fluctuations in the energy generation. The estimated Eddington ratios are about 0.055 ${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ for minimum in 2014 and 2.8 ${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ for maximum in 2018.
ABSTRACT
We present optical photometric observations of SN 2018aoq from 2 to 100 d after explosion, and 7 spectra at epochs from 11 to 71 d. The light curves and spectra are typical for SNe II-P. As ...previously reported, SN 2018aoq appears to be of intermediate brightness between subluminous and normal SNe II-P. SN 2018aoq was discovered in Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151, for which the distance is uncertain. We utilized the expanding photosphere method using three sets of filter combinations and velocities derived from the absorption minima of Fe ii lines and obtained a distance of 20.0 ± 1.6 Mpc. The standard candle method applied to SN 2018aoq yields a distance of 16.6 ± 1.1 Mpc. Both values are consistent with the distance measurements for NGC 4151 based on geometric method.
We present a variability study of the lowest-luminosity Seyfert 1 nucleus of the galaxy NGC 4395 based on photometric monitoring campaigns in 2017 and 2018. Using 22 ground-based and space ...telescopes, we monitored NGC 4395 with a ∼5-minute cadence during a period of 10 days and obtained light curves in the ultraviolet (UV), V, J, H, and K/Ks bands, as well as narrowband H . The rms variability is ∼0.13 mag in the Swift UVM2 and V filter light curves, decreasing down to ∼0.01 mag in the K filter. After correcting for the continuum contribution to the H narrow band, we measured the time lag of the H emission line with respect to the V-band continuum as - minutes in 2017 and - minutes in 2018, depending on assumptions about the continuum variability amplitude in the H narrow band. We obtained no reliable measurements for the continuum-to-continuum lag between UV and V bands and among near-IR bands, owing to the large flux uncertainty of UV observations and the limited time baseline. We determined the active galactic nucleus (AGN) monochromatic luminosity at 5100 , , after subtracting the contribution of the nuclear star cluster. While the optical luminosity of NGC 4395 is two orders of magnitude lower than that of other reverberation-mapped AGNs, NGC 4395 follows the size-luminosity relation, albeit with an offset of 0.48 dex (≥2.5 ) from the previous best-fit relation of Bentz et al.
We present results of a study of the correlation between the infrared (
JHKL
) and optical (
B
) fluxes of the nucleus of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 for the years 2010–2015 using our own data ...(partially published) in combination with published data of Roberts and Rumstey (2012), Guo et al. (2014) and Schnülle et al. (2013, 2015). We find similar lags for each of the
HKL
passbands relative to the optical of 37 ± 3 days. The lags are the same to within the accuracy of measurement. We do not confirm a significant decrease in the lag for
HKL
in 2013–2014 previously reported by Schnülle et al. (2015), but we find that the lag of the short-lag component of
J
increased. We discuss our results within the framework of the standard model, where the variable infrared radiation is mainly due to the thermal re-emission of short-wave radiation by dust clouds close to a variable central source. There is also some contribution to the IR emission from the accretion disk, and this contribution increases with decreasing wavelength. The variability in
J
and
K
is not entirely simultaneous, which may be due to the differing contributions of the radiation from the accretion disk in these bands. The absence of strong wavelength-dependent changes in infrared lag across the
HKL
passbands can be explained by having the dust clouds during 2010–2015 be located beyond the sublimation radius. The relative wavelength independence of the infrared lags is also consistent with the hollow bi-conical outflow model of Oknyansky et al. (2015).
Context.
We present observations from the short-term intensive optical campaign (from September 2019 to January 2020) of the changing-look Seyfert NGC 3516. This active galactic nucleus is known to ...have strong optical variability and has changed its type in the past. It has been in the low-activity state in the optical since 2013, with some rebrightening from the end of 2015 to the beginning of 2016, after which it remained dormant.
Aims.
We aim to study the photometric and spectral variability of NGC 3516 from the new observations in
U
- and
B
-bands and examine the profiles of the optical broad emission lines in order to demonstrate that this object may be entering a new state of activity.
Methods.
NGC 3516 has been monitored intensively for the past 4 months with an automated telescope in
U
and
B
filters, enabling accurate photometry of 0.01 precision. Spectral observations were triggered when an increase in brightness was spotted. We support our analysis of past-episodes of violent variability with the UV and X-ray long-term light curves constructed from the archival
Swift
/UVOT and
Swift
/XRT data.
Results.
An increase of the photometric magnitude is seen in both
U
and
B
filters to a maximum amplitude of 0.25 mag and 0.11 mag, respectively. During the flare, we observe stronger forbidden high-ionization iron lines (Fe
VII
and Fe
X
) than reported before, as well as the complex broad H
α
and H
β
lines. This is especially seen in H
α
, which appears to be double-peaked. It seems that a very broad component of ∼10 000 km s
−1
in width in the Balmer lines is appearing. The trends in the optical, UV, and X-ray light curves are similar, with the amplitudes of variability being significantly larger in the case of UV and X-ray bands.
Conclusions.
The increase of the continuum emission, the variability of the coronal lines, and the very broad component in the Balmer lines may indicate that the AGN of NGC 3516 is finally leaving the low-activity state in which it has been for the last ∼3 years.
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