The Fermi/LAT collaboration recently reported the detection of starburt galaxies in the high energy gamma-ray domain, as well as radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 objects, which were previously unusual extragalactic suspects for high energy emission. Motivated by the presence of sources close to the location of composite starburst/Seyfert 2 galaxies in the first year Fermi/LAT catalogue, we studied high energy gamma-ray emission from such objects, aiming at disentangling the emission of starburst and Seyfert activity. We analysed 1.6 years of Fermi/LAT data from NGC 1068 and NGC 4945, which count among the brightest Seyfert 2 galaxies. We found an excess of high energy gamma-rays of 8.3 sigmas and 9.2 sigmas for 1FGL J0242.7+0007 and 1FGL J1305.4-4928, which are found to be consistent with the position of the Seyfert 2 galaxies NGC 1068 and NGC 4945, respectively. While the high energy flux of NGC 4945 is consistent with starburst activity, that of NGC 1068 is an order of magnitude above expectations, suggesting dominant emission from the active nucleus. We show that a leptonic scenario can account for the multi-wavelength spectral energy distribution of NGC 1068. High energy gamma-ray emission is thus revealed for the first time in a Seyfert 2 galaxy. If this result is confirmed in other objects, new perspectives would be opened up into the GeV band, with the discovery of a new class of high energy gamma-ray emitters.
The Fermi/LAT collaboration recently reported the detection of starburt galaxies in the high energy gamma-ray domain, as well as radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 objects. Motivated by the presence of sources close to the location of composite starburst/Seyfert 2 galaxies in the first year Fermi/LAT catalogue, we aim at studying high energy gamma-ray emission from such objects, and at disentangling the emission of starburst and Seyfert activity. We analysed 1.6 years of Fermi/LAT data from NGC 1068 and NGC 4945, which count among the brightest Seyfert 2 galaxies. We search for potential variabi…
Before the launch of the Fermi satellite only two classes of AGNs were known to produce relativistic jets and thus emit up to the gamma-ray energy range: blazars and radio galaxies, both hosted in giant elliptical galaxies. The first four years of observations by the Large Area Telescope on board Fermi confirmed that these two are the most numerous classes of identified sources in the extragalactic gamma-ray sky, but the discovery of gamma-ray emission from 5 radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies revealed the presence of a possible emerging third class of AGNs with relativistic jets. Consi…
The role of starburst winds versus active galactic nuclei (AGN) jets/winds in the formation of the kiloparsec scale radio emission seen in Seyferts is not yet well understood. In order to be able to disentangle the role of various components, we have observed a sample of Seyfert galaxies exhibiting kpc-scale radio emission suggesting outflows, along with a comparison sample of starburst galaxies, with the EVLA B-array in polarimetric mode at 1.4 GHz and 5~GHz. Polarization is clearly detected in three Seyfert galaxies and one starburst galaxy. The Seyfert galaxy NGC\,2639, shows highly polariz…
The recent detection of high-energy gamma rays from Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies has confirmed that also this type of active galactic nuclei can generate powerful relativistic jets. I outline the evolution of the knowledge in this research field and the implications on the unification of relativistic jets at all scales.
The discovery of gamma-ray emission from 5 radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies revealed the presence of a possible emerging third class of AGNs with relativistic jets, in addition to blazars and radio galaxies. The existence of relativistic jets also in this subclass of Seyfert galaxies opened an unexplored research space for our knowledge of the radio-loud AGNs. Here, we discuss the radio-to-gamma-rays properties of the gamma-ray emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies, also in comparison with the blazar scenario.
We present a large sample which contains 45 Seyfert 1 galaxies (Sy1s), 46 hidden broad-line region (HBLR) Seyfert 2 galaxies (Sy2s), 57 non-HBLR Sy2s, and 22 starburst galaxies to distinguish their properties and to seek the possible evolution of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and starburst galaxies. We show that (1) using a plot of [O III] ł5007/H/alpha versus [N II] ł6584/H/alpha of standard optical spectral diagnostic diagrams, we find that a equation can separate well non-HBLR Sy2s and HBLR Sy2s; (2) the emission-line ratios and both the combination of the ratios and polycyclic aromatic hyd…
We explore the nature of Infrared Excess sources (IRX), which are proposed as candidates for luminous L_X(2-10keV)>1e43erg/s Compton Thick (N_H>2e24cm^{-2}$) QSOs at z~2. Lower redshift, z~1, analogues of the distant IRX population are identified by firstly redshifting to z=2 the SEDs of all sources with secure spectroscopic redshifts in the AEGIS (6488) and the GOODS-North (1784) surveys and then selecting those that qualify as IRX sources at that redshift. A total of 19 galaxies are selected. The mean redshift of the sample is $z\approx1$. We do not find strong evidence for Compton Thick QSO…
We present results from multi-frequency polarization-sensitive Very Large Array observations of the Seyfert-starburst composite galaxy NGC3079. Our sensitive radio observations reveal a plethora of radio filaments comprising the radio lobes in this galaxy. We analyze the origin of these radio filaments in the context of existing Chandra X-ray and HST emission-line data. We do not find a one-to-one correlation of the radio filaments with the emission line filaments. The north-eastern lobe is highly polarized with polarization fractions $\sim$33% at 5 GHz. The magnetic fields are aligned with th…
Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) class of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is generally radio-quiet, but a small percent of them are radio-loud. The recent discovery by Fermi/LAT of high-energy gamma-ray emission from 4 NLS1s proved the existence of relativistic jets in these systems. It is therefore important to study this new class of gamma-ray emitting AGNs. Here we report preliminary results about the observations of the July 2010 gamma-ray outburst of PMN J0948+0022, when the source flux exceeded for the first time 10^-6 ph cm^-2 s^-1 (E > 100 MeV).
The discovery by the Large Area Telescope on board Fermi of variable gamma-ray emission from radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxies revealed the presence of a possible third class of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) with relativistic jets in addition to blazars and radio galaxies. Considering that NLSy1 are usually hosted in spiral galaxies, this finding poses intriguing questions about the nature of these objects and the formation of relativistic jets. We report on a systematic investigation of the gamma-ray properties of a sample of radio-loud NLSy1, including the detection of new obj…
Before the launch of the Fermi satellite only two classes of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) were known to generate relativistic jets and thus to emit up to the gamma-ray energy range: blazars and radio galaxies, both hosted in giant elliptical galaxies. The first four years of observations by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board Fermi confirmed that these two populations represent the most numerous identified sources in the extragalactic gamma-ray sky, but the discovery of variable gamma-ray emission from 5 radio-loud Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxies revealed the presence of a possible …
Before the launch of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope satellite only two classes of active galactic nuclei (AGN) were known to generate relativistic jets and thus to emit up to the $γ$-ray energy range: blazars and radio galaxies, both hosted in giant elliptical galaxies. The discovery by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on-board the Fermi satellite of variable $γ$-ray emission from a few radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLSy1) revealed the presence of an emerging third class of AGN with powerful relativistic jets. Considering that NLSy1 are usually hosted in late-type galaxies with…
Before the launch of the Fermi satellite only two classes of AGN were known to generate relativistic jets and thus emit up to the gamma-ray energy range: blazars and radio galaxies, both hosted in giant elliptical galaxies. The first two years of observations by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board Fermi confirmed that these two are the most numerous classes of identified sources in the extragalactic gamma-ray sky, but the discovery of variable gamma-ray emission from 5 radio-loud Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLSy1s) revealed the presence of a possible emerging third class of AGN with re…
We conducted very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of five radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies in milliarcsecond resolutions at 1.7 GHz (18 cm) using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). Significant parsec-scale structures were revealed for three out of the five sources with high brightness temperature by direct imaging; this is convincing evidence for nonthermal jets. FBQS J1644+2619 with an inverted spectrum showed a prominent one-sided linear structure, indicating Doppler beaming with an intrinsic jet speed of >0.74c. FBQS J1629+4007, also with an inverted spect…
The recent discovery by Fermi/LAT of high-energy (E>100 MeV) gamma rays from Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies (NLS1s) made evident the existence of a third class of gamma-ray emitting Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), after blazars and radio galaxies. It is now possible to study a rather unexplored range of low masses (10^6-8 Msun) and high accretion rates (up to the Eddington limit) of AGN with relativistic jets. A comparison with the jet emission from Galactic compact objects shows some striking similarities, indicating that NLS1s are the low-mass counterpart of blazars as neutron stars are the lo…
We have detected six narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies at 37 GHz that were previously classified as radio silent and two that were classified as radio quiet. These detections reveal the presumption that NLS1 galaxies labelled radio quiet or radio silent and hosted by spiral galaxies are unable to launch jets to be incorrect. The detections are a plausible indicator of the presence of a powerful, most likely relativistic jet because this intensity of emission at 37 GHz cannot be explained by, for example, radiation from supernova remnants. Additionally, one of the detected NLS1 galaxies is …
In 2008, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has revealed - for the first time - high-energy (E > 100 MeV) gamma rays from a few Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies (NLS1s). Later, in 2009 and 2010, two multifrequency campaigns on one of these sources, PMN J0948+0022 (z=0.585), definitely confirmed the presence, in sources of this type, of a relativistic jet very similar and with comparable power to those in blazars. However, these sources are neither blazars nor radio galaxies, as proven by their optical spectrum and by their very compact radio morphology. Moreover, since NLS1s are generally hoste…
It has been suggested that some radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 contain relativistic jets, on the basis of their flat-spectrum radio nuclei and studies on variability. We present preliminary results of an ongoing investigation of the X-ray and multiwavelength properties of 5 radio-loud NLS1 based on archival data from Swift and XMM-Newton. Some sources present interesting characteristics, very uncharacteristic for a radio-quiet narrow-line Seyfert 1, such as very hard X-ray spectra, and correlated optical and ultraviolet variability. However, none of the studied sources show conclusive eviden…
Comparison of 8.4-GHz radio images of a sample of 11 early-type Seyfert galaxies with previous observations reveals possible variation in the nuclear radio flux density in 5 of them over a 7-yr period. We find no correlation between radio variability and nuclear radio luminosity or Seyfert nuclear type, although the sample is small and dominated by type 2 Seyferts. Instead, a possible correlation between the presence of nuclear radio variability and the absence of ~100-pc-scale radio emission is seen. NGC2110 is the only source with significant extended radio structure and strong nuclear varia…
Narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies are a peculiar subclass of active galactic nuclei (AGN). They have demonstrated that the presence of relativistic jets in an AGN is not strictly related to its radio-loudness, the black hole mass, or the host galaxy type. Here we present a remarkable example of a radio-quiet NLS1, 6dFGS gJ035432.8-134008 (J0354-1340). In our Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array observations at 5.5 GHz the source shows a bright core with a flat spectral index, and extended emission corresponding to very elongated jets. These are the largest double-sided radio jets found to date …
We present the preliminary results of a survey performed with Swift to observe a sample of radio-loud Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies (RLNLS1s). Optical-to-X-ray data from Swift are complemented with gamma-ray observations from Fermi/LAT and radio measurements available in the literature. The comparison with a sample of bright Fermi blazars indicates that RLNLS1s seem to be the low-power tail of the distribution.
Narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies are peculiar active galactic nuclei (AGN). Most of them do not show strong radio emission, but recently seven radio-quiet (or -silent) NLS1s have been detected flaring multiple times at 37 GHz by the Metsähovi Radio Telescope, indicating the presence of relativistic jets in these peculiar sources. We observed them with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) in A configuration at 1.6, 5.2, and 9.0 GHz. Our results show that these sources are either extremely faint or not detected in the JVLA bands. At those frequencies, the radio emission from their rel…
We report results on multiband observations from radio to gamma-rays of the two radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxies PKS 2004-447 and J1548+3511. Both sources show a core-jet structure on parsec scale, while they are unresolved at the arcsecond scale. The high core dominance and the high variability brightness temperature make these NLSy1 galaxies good gamma-ray source candidates. Fermi-LAT detected gamma-ray emission only from PKS 2004-447, with a gamma-ray luminosity comparable to that observed in blazars. No gamma-ray emission is observed for J1548+3511. Both sources are variab…
Mrk 1388 has an unusual Seyfert nucleus that shows narrow emission-line components without broad ones, but shows a strong featureless continuum and strong iron-forbidden high-ionization emission lines. The apparent coexistence of type-1/2 characteristics is potentially attributed to a heavily obscured broad-line region or to an intermediate-mass black hole with a broad-line component intrinsically narrower than those of typical narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies. Our observation using very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) reveals high-brightness radio emission from nonthermal jets from a…
We have discovered kiloparsec-scale extended radio emission in three narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) in sub-arcsecond resolution 9 GHz images from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). We find all sources show two-sided, mildly core-dominated jet structures with diffuse lobes dominated by termination hotspots. These span 20-70 kpc with morphologies reminiscent of FR II radio galaxies, while the extended radio luminosities are intermediate between FR I and FR II sources. In two cases the structure is linear, while a $45^{\circ}$ bend is apparent in the third. Very Long Baseline Arra…
Relativistic reflection models of the X-ray spectrum of the `complex' Narrow Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) 1H 0707-495 require a high spin, moderate inclination, low mass black hole. With these parameters fixed, the observed optical/UV emission directly determines the mass accretion rate through the outer disc and hence predicts the bolometric luminosity. This is $140-260~\times$ the Eddington limit. Such a disc should power a strong wind, and winds are generically expected to be clumpy. Changing inclination angle with respect to a clumpy wind structure gives a possible explanation for the otherwise p…
Several narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) have now been detected in gamma rays, providing firm evidence that at least some of this class of active galactic nuclei (AGN) produce relativistic jets. The presence of jets in NLS1s is surprising, as these sources are typified by comparatively small black hole masses and near- or super-Eddington accretion rates. This challenges the current understanding of the conditions necessary for jet production. Comparing the properties of the jets in NLS1s with those in more familiar jetted systems is thus essential to improve jet production models. We pre…
A significant number of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are observed to be hidden behind dust and gas. The distribution of material around AGNs plays an important role in modeling the cosmic X-ray background (CXB), especially the fraction of Type-2 AGNs ($f_2$). One of the possible explanations for the obscuration in Seyfert galaxies at intermediate redshift is dusty starburst discs. We compute the 2D hydrostatic structure of 768 nuclear starburst discs (NSDs) under various physical conditions and also the distribution of column density along the line of sight ($N_{\text{H}}$) associated with th…
Particle acceleration at recollimation shocks in sub-relativistic jets. A model for jets in Seyfert Galaxies, Microquasars and Protostellar Systems
INAF, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica（意大利国家天体物理研究所）；Universite Paris Cité（巴黎西岱大学）；Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange（法国蔚蓝海岸大学，蔚蓝海岸天文台，法国国家科学研究中心，拉格朗日实验室）；University of Pisa（比萨大学）；Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院核物理研究所）
We compile a large sample of 120 Seyfert 2 galaxies (Sy2s) which contains 49 hidden broad-line region (HBLR) Sy2s and 71 non-HBLR Sy2s. From the difference in the power sources between two groups, we test if HBLR Sy2s are dominated by active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and if non-HBLR Sy2s are dominated by starbursts. We show that: (1) HBLR Sy2s have larger accretion rates than non-HBLR Sy2s; (2) HBLR Sy2s have larger \Nev $λ14.32$/\Neii $λ12.81$ and \oiv $λ25.89$/\Neii $λ12.81$ line ratios than non-HBLR Sy2s; (3) HBLR Sy2s have smaller $IRAS$ $f_{60}/f_{25}$ flux ratio which shows the relative st…
We conducted Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of seven nearby narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies at 1.7 GHz (18cm) with milli-arcsecond resolution. This is the first systematic very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) study focusing on the central parsec-scale regions of radio-quiet NLS1s. Five of the seven were detected at a brightness temperature of >~5x10^6 K and contain radio cores with high brightness temperatures of >6x10^7 K, indicating a nonthermal process driven by jet-producing central engines as is observed in radio-loud NLS1s and other active galactic nucleus (AGN) c…
We present the detection of compact radio structures of fourteen radio-loud narrow line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies from Very Long Baseline Array observations at 5 GHz, which were performed in 2013. While 50\% of the sources of our sample show a compact core only, the remaining 50\% exhibit a core-jet structure. The measured brightness temperatures of the cores range from $10^{8.4}$ to $10^{11.4}$ K with a median value of $10^{10.1}$ K, indicating that the radio emission is from non-thermal jets, and that, likely, most sources are not strongly beamed, then implying a lower jet speed in these rad…
Approximately 10-20% of Active Galactic Nuclei are known to eject powerful jets from the innermost regions. There is very little observational evidence if the jets are powered by spinning black holes and if the accretion disks extend to the innermost regions in radio-loud AGN. Here we study the soft X-ray excess, the hard X-ray spectrum and the optical/UV emission from the radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy PKS 0558-504 using Suzaku and Swift observations. The broadband X-ray continuum of PKS 0558- 504 consists of a soft X-ray excess emission below 2 keV that is well described by a blackb…
The Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the {\it Fermi} Gamma Ray Space Telescope has detected γ-ray emission from some Narrow Line Seyfert 1(NLSy1) galaxies. This indicates the presence of relativistic jets in these sources similar to blazars and radio galaxies. In an attempt to have an idea of the intranight optical variability (INOV) characteristics of these γ-ray loud NLSy1 galaxies, we have carried out optical flux monitoring observations of three NLSy1 galaxies detected by {\it Fermi}/LAT: 1H 0323+342, PMN J0948+0022 and PKS 1502+036. These optical monitoring observations showed the prese…
To quantify the role of radio jets for Intra-Night Optical Variability (INOV) in Radio-Loud Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (RLNLSy1) galaxies, we report the first systematic comparative INOV study of 23 RLNLSy1 galaxies, with 15 RLNLSy1s having confirmed detection of jets (jetted) and the remaining 8 RLNLSy1s having no detection of jets (non-jetted) based on their Very Long Baseline Array observations. We have monitored these two samples, respectively, in 37 and 16 sessions of a minimum 3-hour duration each. Based upon F$^η$-test at 99\% confidence level with a typical INOV amplitude ($ψ$) detection th…
