Active galactic nucleus

About: Active galactic nucleus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 20761 publications have been published within this topic receiving 996759 citations. The topic is also known as: Active galaxy & AGN.

Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae and Active Galactic Nuclei

Abstract: Photoionization equilibrium thermal equilibrium calculation of emitted spectrum comparison of theory with observations internal dynamics of gaseous nebulae interstellar dust H II regions in the galactic context planetary nebulae nova and supernova remnants active galactic nuclei - diagnostic and physics active galactic nuclei - results.

Unified Schemes for Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei

Abstract: The appearance of active galactic nuclei (AGN) depends so strongly on orientation that our current classification schemes are dominated by random pointing directions instead of more interesting physical properties. Light from the centers of many AGN is obscrued by optically thick circumstellar matter, particularly at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths. In radio-loud AGN, bipolar jets emanating from the nucleus emit radio through gamma-ray light that is relativistically beamed along the jet axes. Understanding the origin and magnitude of radiation anistropies in AGN allows us to unify different classes of AGN; that is, to identify each single, underlying AGN type that gives rise to different classes through different orientations. This review describes the unification of radio-loud AGN, which includes radio galaxies, quasars, and blazars. We describe the classification and general properties of AGN. We summarize the evidence for anisotropic emission caused by circumstellar obscuration and relativistic beaming. We outline the two most plausible unified schemes for radio-loud AGN, one linking the high-luminosity sources (BL Lac objects and less luminous radio galaxies). Using the formalism appropriate to samples biased by relativistic beaming, we show the population statistics for two schemes are in accordance with available data. We analyze the possible connections between low- and high-luminosity radio-loud AGN and conclude they probably are powered by similar physical processes, at least within the relativistic jet. We review potential difficulties with unification and conclude that none currently constitutes a serious problem. We discuss likely complications to unified schemes that are suggested by realistic physical considerations; these will be important to consider when more comprehensive data for larger complete samples become available. We conclude with a list of the ten questions we believe are the most pressing in this field.

Unified models for active galactic nuclei and quasars

Abstract: Because the critical central regions of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and quasars are strongly nonspherical but spatially unresolved, orientation effects have been the source of much confusion. In fact, it now appears that much of the variety in AGN types is just the result of varying orientation relative to the line of sight. We can define an extreme hypothesis,, the straw person model (SPM), in which there are two basic types of AGN: the radio quiets and the radio louds. For each type there is a range in intrinsic luminosity, and the luminosity controls some properties such as the Fanaroff and Riley classes. However, at a given intrinsic luminosity, all other properties such as spectroscopic classification and VLBI component speeds are ascribed to orientation. This model is only a caricature of the unification idea, and is already ruled out on many grounds, but it will be useful for organizing the discussion. I’ll describe what I consider to be convincing evidence that orientation effects are important and widespread. The true situation may be in some sense half way between the SPM and the hypothesis that orientation doesn’t affect classification at aIl. To us optimists, the orienration cup is half full rather than half empty. Although it is too soon to say for sure, the hypothesis that most objects’ classifications would be different if seen from other directions is a tenable one today.

The host galaxies of active galactic nuclei

Abstract: We examine the properties of the host galaxies of 22 623 narrow-line active galactic nuclei (AGN) with 0.02 < z < 0.3 selected from a complete sample of 122 808 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We focus on the luminosity of the [O III] λ5007 emission line as a tracer of the strength of activity in the nucleus. We study how AGN host properties compare with those of normal galaxies and how they depend on L[O III]. We find that AGN of all luminosities reside almost exclusively in massive galaxies and have distributions of sizes, stellar surface mass densities and concentrations that are similar to those of ordinary early-type galaxies in our sample. The host galaxies of low-luminosity AGN have stellar populations similar to normal early types. The hosts of high-luminosity AGN have much younger mean stellar ages. The young stars are not preferentially located near the nucleus of the galaxy, but are spread out over scales of at least several kiloparsecs. A significant fraction of high-luminosity AGN have strong Hδ absorption-line equivalent widths, indicating that they experienced a burst of star formation in the recent past. We have also examined the stellar populations of the host galaxies of a sample of broad-line AGN. We conclude that there is no significant difference in stellar content between type 2 Seyfert hosts and quasars (QSOs) with the same [O III] luminosity and redshift. This establishes that a young stellar population is a general property of AGN with high [O III] luminosities.

Unified Schemes for Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei

Abstract: The appearance of active galactic nuclei (AGN) depends so strongly on orientation that our current classification schemes are dominated by random pointing directions instead of more interesting physical properties. Light from the centers of many AGN is obscured by optically thick circumnuclear matter and in radio-loud AGN, bipolar jets emanating from the nucleus emit light that is relativistically beamed along the jet axes. Understanding the origin and magnitude of radiation anisotropies in AGN allows us to unify different classes of AGN; that is, to identify each single, underlying AGN type that gives rise to different classes through different orientations. This review describes the unification of radio-loud AGN, which include radio galaxies, quasars, and blazars. We describe the classification and properties of AGN and summarize the evidence for anisotropic emission. We outline the two most plausible unified schemes for radio-loud AGN, one linking quasars and luminous radio galaxies and another linking BL~Lac objects and less luminous radio galaxies. Using the formalism appropriate to samples biased by relativistic beaming, we show the population statistics for two schemes are in accordance with available data. We analyze the possible connections between low- and high-luminosity radio-loud AGN. We review potential difficulties with unification and conclude that none currently constitutes a serious problem. We discuss likely complications to unified schemes that are suggested by realistic physical considerations; these will be important to consider when more comprehensive data for larger complete samples become available. We conclude with a list of the ten questions we believe are the most pressing in this field.