1,721,077 research outputs found
What drives the radio slopes in radio-quiet quasars?
No full textThe origin of the radio emission in radio-quiet (RQ) quasars is not established yet. Important hints can be provided by the spectral slope, and its relation to other emission properties. We compiled the highest resolution 5 and 8.4 GHz Very Large Array observations available of the RQ optically selected Palomar–Green (PG) quasars at z < 0.5. We derive the 5–8.4 GHz spectral slope, αR, for 25 of the complete and well-studied sample of 71 RQ PG quasars. We find a highly significant correlation of αR with L/LEdd, where high L/LEdd(>0.3) quasars have a steep slope (αR < −0.5), indicative of an optically thin synchrotron source. In contrast, lower L/LEdd(<0.3) quasars generally have a flat slope (αR > −0.5), indicative of a compact optically thick synchrotron source. Flat αR quasars also have a low Fe II/Hβ line ratio, and a flat soft X-ray slope. The 16 radio loud (RL) PGs do not follow the RQ quasar set of correlations, and their αR is set by MBH, suggesting that the radio emission mechanisms in RL and RQ quasars are different. A possible interpretation is that high L/LEdd RQ quasars produce a strong outflow and an associated optically thin synchrotron emission. In lower L/LEdd RQ quasars, the strong outflow is missing, and only a compact optically thick radio source remains, possibly associated with the accretion disc coronal emission. A systematic study of RQ quasars at higher frequencies, and higher resolution, can test whether a compact flat source indeed resides in the cores of all RQ quasars, and allows the exploration of its relation with the coronal X-ray emission.</p
Evidence for Radiation Pressure Compression in the X-ray Narrow Line Region of Seyfert galaxies
No full textThe PG-RQS survey. Building the radio spectral distribution of radio-quiet quasars. I. The 45-GHz data
No full textThe origin of the radio emission in radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) remains unclear. Radio emission may be produced by a scaled-down version of the relativistic jets observed in radio-loud (RL) AGN, an AGN-driven wind, the accretion disc corona, AGN photon-ionization of ambient gas (free–free emission), or star formation (SF). Here, we report a pilot study, part of a radio survey (‘PG-RQS’) aiming at exploring the spectral distributions of the 71 Palomar–Green (PG) RQQs: high angular resolution observations (∼50 mas) at 45 GHz (7 mm) with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array of 15 sources. Sub-mJy radio cores are detected in 13 sources on a typical scale of ∼100 pc, which excludes significant contribution from galaxy-scale SF. For 9 sources the 45-GHz luminosity is above the lower frequency (∼1–10 GHz) spectral extrapolation, indicating the emergence of an additional flatter-spectrum compact component at high frequencies. The X-ray luminosity and black hole (BH) mass, correlate more tightly with the 45-GHz luminosity than the 5-GHz. The 45 GHz-based radio-loudness increases with decreasing Eddington ratio and increasing BH mass MBH. These results suggest that the 45-GHz emission from PG RQQs nuclei originates from the innermost region of the core, probably from the accretion disc corona. Increasing contributions to 45-GHz emission from a jet at higher MBH and lower Eddington ratios and from a disc wind at large Eddington ratios are still consistent with our results. Future full radio spectral coverage of the sample will help us investigating the different physical mechanisms in place in RQQ cores
The origin of radio emission from radio-quiet active galactic nuclei
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The central nuclei of galaxies, where supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are thought to reside, can experience phases of activity when they become active galactic nuclei (AGNs). An AGN can eject winds and jets and produce radiation across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. The fraction of the bolometric emission in the radio spans a factor of approximately 10
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across the different classes of AGNs. The weakest radio sources, radio-quiet (RQ) AGNs, are typically 1,000 times fainter than the radio-loud (RL) AGNs, and represent the majority of the AGN population. In RQ AGNs, the absence of luminous jets allows us to probe radio emission from a wide range of possible mechanisms: star formation, AGN-driven wind, free-free emission from photoionized gas, low-power jets and the innermost accretion disk coronal activity. All these mechanisms can now be probed with unprecedented precision and spatial resolution, owing to the current and forthcoming generation of highly sensitive radio arrays.
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Radio-loud Narrow Line Seyfert 1 under a different perspective: a revised black hole mass estimate from optical spectropolarimetry
Full text linkSeveral studies indicate that radio-loud (RL) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are produced only by the most massive black holes (BH), MBH ∼ 108–1010 M⊙. This idea has been challenged by the discovery of RL Narrow Line Seyfert 1 (RL NLSy1), having estimated masses of MBH ∼ 106–107 M⊙. However, these low MBH estimates might be due to projection effects. Spectropolarimetry allows us to test this possibility by looking at RL NLSy1s under a different perspective, i.e. from the viewing angle of the scattering material. We here report the results of a pilot study of Very Large Telescope spectropolarimetric observations of the RL NLSy1 PKS 2004−447. Its polarization properties are remarkably well reproduced by models in which the scattering occurs in an equatorial structure surrounding its broad-line region, seen close to face-on. In particular, we detect a polarized Hα line with a width of ∼9000 km s−1, ∼6 times broader than the width seen in direct light. This corresponds to a revised estimate of MBH ∼ 6 × 108 M⊙, well within the typical range of RL AGN. The double-peaked polarized broad Hα profile of the target suggests that the rare combination of the orientation effects and a broad line region dominated by the rotation might account for this class of objects, casting doubts on the virial estimates of BH mass for type-I AGN
REVERBERATION MAPPING OF THE INTERMEDIATE-MASS NUCLEAR BLACK HOLE IN SDSS J114008.71+030711.4
No full textWe present the results of a reverberation mapping (RM) campaign on the black hole (BH) associated with the active galactic nucleus (AGN) in SDSS J114008.71+030711.4 (hereafter GH08). This object is selected from a sample of 19 candidate intermediate-mass BHs (MBH < 10(6) M(circle dot)) found by Greene&Ho in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We used the Hobby-Eberly Telescope to obtain 30 spectra over a period of 178 days in an attempt to resolve the reverberation time lag (tau) between the continuum source and the broad-line region (BLR) in order to determine the radius of the BLR (R(BLR)) in GH08. We measure tau to be two days with an upper limit of six days. We estimate the AGN luminosity at 5100 angstrom to be lambda L(5100) approximate to 1.1 x 10(43) erg s(-1) after deconvolution from the host galaxy. The most well-calibrated R(BLR)-L relation predicts a time lag that is four times larger than what we measure. Using the measured H beta full width at half-maximum of 703 +/- 110 km s(-1) and an upper limit for R(BLR) = 6 light days, we find M(BH) less than or similar to 5.8 x 10(5) M(circle dot) as an upper limit to the BH virial mass in GH08, which implies super-Eddington accretion. Based on our measured MBH we propose that GH08 may be another candidate to add to the very short list of AGNs with M(BH) < 10(6) M(circle dot) determined using RM
The mm-wave compact component of an AGN
No full textmm-wave emission from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) may hold the key to understanding the physical origin of their radio cores. The correlation between radio/mm and X-ray luminosity may suggest a similar physical origin of the two sources. Since synchrotron self-absorption decreases with frequency, mm-waves probe smaller length-scales than cm-waves. We report on 100 GHz (3 mm) observations with the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy of 26AGNs selected from the hardX-ray Swift/Burst Alert Telescope survey. 20/26 targets were detected at 100 GHz down to the 1 mJy (3σ) sensitivity, which corresponds to optically thick synchrotron source sizes of 10-4-10-3 pc. Most sources show a 100 GHz flux excess with respect to the spectral slope extrapolated from low frequencies. This mm spectral component likely originates from smaller scales than the few-GHz emission. The measured mm sources lie roughly around the Lmm (100 GHz) ~10-4LX (2-10 keV) relation, similar to a few previously published X-ray selected sources, and hinting perhaps at a common coronal origin.</p
Simultaneous millimetre-wave and X-ray monitoring of the Seyfert galaxy NGC7469
No full textWe report on daily monitoring of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 7469, around 95 GHz and 143 GHz, with the IRAM 30 m radio telescope, and with the Swift X-Ray and UV/Optical telescopes, over an overlapping period of 45 days. The source was observed on 36 days with IRAM, and the flux density in both mm bands was on average ~10 mJy, but varied by ±50%, and by up to a factor of 2 between days. The present IRAM variability parameters are consistent with earlier CARMA monitoring, which had only 18 data points. The X-ray light curve of NGC 7469 over the same period spans a factor of 5 in flux with small uncertainties. Similar variability in the mm-band and in the X-rays lends support to the notion of both sources originating in the same physical component of the AGN, likely the accretion disk corona. Simultaneous monitoring ineight UV/optical bands shows much less variability than the mm and X-rays, implying this light originates from a different AGN component, likely the accretion disk itself. We use a tentative 14 day lag of the X-ray light curve with respect to the 95 GHz lightcurve to speculate on coronal implications. More precise mm-band measurements of a sample of X-ray-variable AGN are needed, preferably also on time scales of less than a day where X-rays vary dramatically, in order to properly test the physical connection between the two bands
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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