The Low-luminosity End of the Radius-Luminosity Relationship for Active Galactic Nuclei
Misty C. Bentz,Kelly D. Denney,Catherine J. Grier,Aaron J. Barth,Bradley M. Peterson,Marianne Vestergaard,Marianne Vestergaard,Vardha N. Bennert,Gabriela Canalizo,Gisella De Rosa,Alexei V. Filippenko,Elinor L. Gates,Jenny E. Greene,Weidong Li,Matthew A. Malkan,Richard W. Pogge,Daniel Stern,Tommaso Treu,Jong-Hak Woo +18 more
TLDR
In this article, the authors present an updated and revised analysis of the relationship between the H{beta} broadline region (BLR) radius and the luminosity of the active galactic nucleus (AGN).Abstract:
We present an updated and revised analysis of the relationship between the H{beta} broad-line region (BLR) radius and the luminosity of the active galactic nucleus (AGN). Specifically, we have carried out two-dimensional surface brightness decompositions of the host galaxies of nine new AGNs imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3. The surface brightness decompositions allow us to create ''AGN-free'' images of the galaxies, from which we measure the starlight contribution to the optical luminosity measured through the ground-based spectroscopic aperture. We also incorporate 20 new reverberation-mapping measurements of the H{beta} time lag, which is assumed to yield the average H{beta} BLR radius. The final sample includes 41 AGNs covering four orders of magnitude in luminosity. The additions and updates incorporated here primarily affect the low-luminosity end of the R{sub BLR}-L relationship. The best fit to the relationship using a Bayesian analysis finds a slope of {alpha}= 0.533{sup +0.035}{sub -0.033}, consistent with previous work and with simple photoionization arguments. Only two AGNs appear to be outliers from the relationship, but both of them have monitoring light curves that raise doubt regarding the accuracy of their reported time lags. The scatter around the relationship is found to be 0.19more » {+-} 0.02 dex, but would be decreased to 0.13 dex by the removal of these two suspect measurements. A large fraction of the remaining scatter in the relationship is likely due to the inaccurate distances to the AGN host galaxies. Our results help support the possibility that the R{sub BLR}-L relationship could potentially be used to turn the BLRs of AGNs into standardizable candles. This would allow the cosmological expansion of the universe to be probed by a separate population of objects, and over a larger range of redshifts.« lessread more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Broad-line region in NGC 4151 monitored by two decades of reverberation mapping campaigns. I. Evolution of structure and kinematics
Yong Jie Chen,Dong-Wei Bao,Shuo Zhai,Feng-Na Fang,Chen Hu,Pu Du,Sen Yang,Zhu-Heng Yao,YanRong Li,Michael S. Brotherton,Jacob N. McLane,Theodora E. Zastrocky,K. A. Olson,Edi Bon,Hua-Rui Bai,Yi-xin Fu,Jun-Rong Liu,Yi-Lin Wang,Jaya Maithil,Henry A. Kobulnicky,Daniel A. Dale,C. J. Adelman,M. Caradonna,Z. J. Carter,J. Favro,Alex J. Ferguson,I. M. Gonzalez,L. M. Hadding,H. D. Hagler,Grey Murphree,M. Oeur,Chris Rogers,Tyler Roth,S. J. Schonsberg,T. R. Stack,Jian-Min Wang +35 more
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors report the results of long-term reverberation mapping (RM) campaigns of the nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) NGC 4151, spanning from 1994 to 2022, based on archived observations of the FAST Spectrograph Publicly Archived Programs and new observations with the 2.3m telescope at the Wyoming Infrared Observatory.
Journal ArticleDOI
Final stage of merging binaries of supermassive black holes: observational signatures
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors discuss the fates of mini-disks around component supermassive black holes for three regimes: 1) low rates (advection-dominated accretion flows: ADAFs); 2) intermediate rates; 3) super-Eddington accretion rates.
Journal ArticleDOI
A practicable estimation of opening angle of dust torus in Type-1.9 AGN with double-peaked broad Hα
TL;DR: In this article , an independent method is proposed to estimate the half-opening angle of a dust torus in AGN, through unique properties of Type-1.9 AGN with double-peaked broad Hα coming from central accretion disk.
Journal ArticleDOI
Differential Interferometric Signatures of Close Binaries of Supermassive Black Holes in Active Galactic Nuclei. II. Merged Broad-line Regions
Yu-Yang Songsheng,Jian-Min Wang +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors used a parameterized model for circumbinary BLRs to calculate line profiles and differential phase curves for spectroastrometry (SA) observations, and showed that both profiles and phase curves exhibit asymmetries caused by the Doppler boosting effect of accretion disks around individual black holes.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Maps of Dust Infrared Emission for Use in Estimation of Reddening and Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation Foregrounds
TL;DR: In this article, a reprocessed composite of the COBE/DIRBE and IRAS/ISSA maps, with the zodiacal foreground and confirmed point sources removed, is presented.
Journal ArticleDOI
Maps of Dust IR Emission for Use in Estimation of Reddening and CMBR Foregrounds
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors presented a reprocessed composite of the COBE/DIRBE and IRAS/ISSA maps, with the zodiacal foreground and confirmed point sources removed.
Book
Numerical Recipes in FORTRAN
TL;DR: The Diskette v 2.04, 3.5'' (720k) for IBM PC, PS/2 and compatibles [DOS] Reference Record created on 2004-09-07, modified on 2016-08-08.
Journal ArticleDOI
Measuring Reddening with Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stellar Spectra and Recalibrating SFD
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors measured the difference between the measured and predicted colors of a star, as derived from stellar parameters from the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration Stellar Parameter Pipeline, and achieved uncertainties of 56, 34, 25, and 29 mmag in the colors u − g, g − r, r − i, and i − z, per star.
Journal ArticleDOI
Measuring Reddening with SDSS Stellar Spectra and Recalibrating SFD
TL;DR: Lee et al. as discussed by the authors measured the difference between the measured and predicted colors of a star, as derived from stellar parameters from the SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline, and achieved uncertainties of 56, 34, 25, and 29 mmag in the colors u-g, g-r, r-i, and i-z, per star.