We detected a very strong X-ray decline in the galaxy IRAS23226-3843 within the XMM-Newton slew survey in 2017. Subsequently, we carried out multi-band follow-up studies to investigate this fading galaxy in more detail. We took deep follow-up Swift, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR observations in combination with optical SALT spectra of IRAS23226-3843 in 2017. In addition, we reinspected optical, UV, and X-ray data that were taken in the past. IRAS23226-3843 decreased in X-rays by a factor of more than 30 with respect to ROSAT and Swift data taken 10 to 27 years before. The broadband XMM-Newton/NuSTAR spectrum is power-law dominated, with a contribution from photoionized emission from cold gas, likely the outer accretion disk or torus. The optical continuum decreased by 60 percent and the Balmer line intensities decreased by 50 percent between 1999 and 2017. The optical Seyfert spectral type changed simultaneously with the X-ray flux from a clear broad-line Seyfert 1 type in 1999 to a Seyfert 1.9 type in 2017. The Balmer line profiles in IRAS23226-3843 are extremely broad. The profiles during the minimum state indicate that they originate in an accretion disk. The unusual flat Balmer decrement Ha/Hb with a value of 2 indicates a very high hydrogen density of n_(H) > 10 exp(11) cm^(-3) at the center of the accretion disk. IRAS23226-3843 shows unusually strong FeII blends with respect to the broad line widths, in contrast to what is known from Eigenvector 1 studies.
We present results from spectroscopic observations of AT 2018hyz, a transient discovered by the ASAS-SN survey at an absolute magnitude of $M_V\sim -20.2$ mag, in the nucleus of a quiescent galaxy with strong Balmer absorption lines. AT 2018hyz shows a blue spectral continuum and broad emission lines, consistent with previous TDE candidates. High cadence follow-up spectra show broad Balmer lines and He I in early spectra, with He II making an appearance after $\sim70-100$ days. The Balmer lines evolve from a smooth broad profile, through a boxy, asymmetric double-peaked phase consistent with a…
In this manuscript, an interesting method is proposed to test dual core system for double-peaked narrow emission lines, through precious dual core system with double-peaked narrow Balmer lines in one system in main galaxy but with single-peaked narrow Balmer lines in the other system in companion galaxy. Under a dual core system, considering narrow Balmer (H$α$ and H$β$) emissions ($f_{e,~α}$ and $f_{e,~β}$) from companion galaxy but covered by SDSS fiber for the main galaxy and narrow Balmer emissions ($f_{c,~α}$ and $f_{c,~β}$) from the companion galaxy covered by SDSS fiber for the companio…
In this manuscript, an interesting blue Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) SDSS J154751.94+025550 (=SDSS J1547) is reported with very different line profiles of broad Balmer emission lines: double-peaked broad H$β$ but single-peaked broad H$α$. SDSS J1547 is the first AGN with detailed discussions on very different line profiles of the broad Balmer emission lines, besides the simply mentioned different broad lines in the candidate for a binary black hole (BBH) system in SDSS J0159+0105. The very different line profiles of the broad Balmer emission lines can be well explained by different physical co…
Most massive galaxies contain a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at their center. When galaxies merge, their SMBHs sink to the center of the new galaxy where they are thought to eventually merge. During this process an SMBH binary is formed. The presence of two sets of broad emission lines in the optical spectrum of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) has been interpreted as evidence for two broad line regions (BLR), one surrounding each SMBH in a binary. We modeled the broad Balmer emission lines in SDSS spectra of 373 extreme variability AGNs using one broad and several narrow Gaussian components…
In this letter, we firstly report one unique object SDSS J0832+0643 with particular features of narrow balmer emission lines: double-peaked narrow Hαbut single-peaked narrow Hβ. The particular features can not be expected by currently proposed kinematic models for double-peaked narrow emission lines, because the proposed kinematic models lead to similar line profiles of narrow balmer emission lines. However, due to radiative transfer effects, the non-kinematic model can be naturally applied to well explain the particular features of narrow balmer emission lines: larger optical depth in Hαthan …
In the manuscript, the simple but interesting results are reported on the upper limits of NLRs sizes of a small sample of 38 low redshift ($z<0.1$) AGN with double-peaked broad emission lines (double-peaked BLAGN), in order to check whether the NLRs sizes in type-1 AGN and type-2 AGN obey the similar empirical dependence on \o3~ luminosity. In order to correct the inclination effects on projected NLRs sizes of type-1 AGN, the accretion disk origin is commonly applied to describe the double-peaked broad H$α$ leading to the determined inclination angles of central disk-like BLRs of the 38 double…
In this manuscript, we proposed an interesting method to test the dual supermassive black hole model for AGN with double-peaked narrow \oiii lines (double-peaked narrow emitters), through their broad optical Balmer line properties. Under the dual supermassive black hole model for double-peaked narrow emitters, we could expect statistically smaller virial black hole masses estimated by observed broad Balmer line properties than true black hole masses (total masses of central two black holes). Then, we compare the virial black hole masses between a sample of 37 double-peaked narrow emitters with…
We extract the multiple-epoch Balmer-line profiles of the heavily obscured quasar 3C 445 from the spectral curves in the literature, and analyze the emission-line profiles of the H$α$ and H$β$ lines and the profile variability in the H$α$ line in the large time interval of more than three decades. The profile comparison between the H$α$ and H$β$ lines shows that both Balmer lines share the profile with the same form, while the blue system of the H$β$ line is seriously weaker than that of the H$α$ line. Moreover, the blue system of the H$α$ line suddenly disappeared completely and then did not …
Balmer absorption is a rare phenomenon in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). So far, only seven Balmer-absorption AGNs have been reported in literature. We here report the identification of SDSS\,J112611.63+425246 as a new Balmer-absorption AGN through our spectral analysis, and study the kinematics of its narrow emission-line region (NLR). We model the continuum by a linear combination of a starlight component, a powerlaw from the central AGN and the emission from the FeII complex. After the subtraction of the modeled continuum, each emission/absorption line is profiled by a sum of multi Gaussian…
We report on continued, $\sim$15 year-long, broad Balmer emission lines in three metal-poor dwarf emission-line galaxies selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopy. The persistent luminosity of the broad Balmer emission indicates the galaxies are active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with virial black hole masses of $\sim 10^{6.7}{-10^{7.0}\ M_{\odot}}$. The lack of observed hard X-ray emission and the possibility that the Balmer emission could be due to a long-lived stellar transient motivated additional follow-up spectroscopy. We also identify a previously-unreported blueshifted narrow abso…
Velocity offsets in the broad Balmer lines of quasars and their temporal variations serve as indirect evidence for bound supermassive black hole binaries (SBHBs) at sub-parsec separations. In this work, we test the SBHB hypothesis for 14 quasars with double-peaked broad emission lines using their long-term (14--41 years) radial velocity curves. We improve on previous work by (a) using elliptical instead of circular orbits for the SBHBs, (b) adopting a statistical model for radial velocity jitter, (c) employing a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to explore the orbital parameter space efficiently…
One of the proposed explanations for the broad, double-peaked Balmer emission lines observed in the spectra of some active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is that they are associated with sub-parsec supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. Here, we test the binary broad-line region hypothesis through several decades of monitoring of the velocity structure of double-peaked H-alpha emission lines in 13 low-redshift, mostly radio-loud AGNs. This is a much larger set of objects compared to an earlier test by Eracleous et al. (1997) and we use much longer time series for the three objects studied in that pa…
We selected an active galactic nuclei (AGN) sample ($0 < z \le 0.35$) from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, and measured the broad- (${\rm Hα^{b}/Hβ^{b}}$) and narrow-line Balmer decrements (${\rm Hα^{n}/Hβ^{n}}$) of 554 selected AGNs. We found that the distributions of Balmer decrements can be fitted by a Gaussian function and give the best estimates of ${\rm Hα^{b}/Hβ^{b}} = 3.16$ with a standard deviation 0.07 dex, and ${\rm Hα^{n}/Hβ^{n}} = 4.37$ with a standard deviation 0.10 dex. We inspected the distributions of ${\rm Hα^{b}/Hβ^{b}}$ and ${\rm Hα^{n}/Hβ^{n}}$ in the Baldwin$-$Ph…
Here we investigate the H$β$ and Mg II spectral line parameters used for the black hole mass (M$_{\rm BH}$) estimation for a sample of Type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) spectra selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database. We have analyzed and compared the virialization of the H$β$ and Mg II emission lines, and found that the H$β$ line is more confident virial estimator than Mg II. We have investigated the influence of the Balmer continuum emission to the M$_{\rm BH}$ estimation from the UV parameters, and found that the Balmer continuum emission can contribute to the overestim…
Double-peaked narrow emission lines in active galactic nucleus (AGN) spectra can be produced by AGN outflows, rotation, or dual AGNs, which are AGN pairs in ongoing galaxy mergers. Consequently, double-peaked narrow AGN emission lines are useful tracers of the coevolution of galaxies and their supermassive black holes, as driven by AGN feedback and AGN fueling. We investigate this concept further with follow-up optical longslit observations of a sample of 95 Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies that have double-peaked narrow AGN emission lines. Based on a kinematic analysis of the longslit…
Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)（宇宙黎明中心）；Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen（哥本哈根大学尼尔斯·玻尔研究所）；Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge（剑桥大学天文研究所）；University of Oxford（牛津大学）
The Broad Line Region of Active Galactic Nuclei is characterized by broad Balmer emission lines in their optical spectra. The broad Balmer emission lines are found to be asymmetric, some blue sided and others red sided in their asymmetry. One of the components behind the asymmetry is thought to be an accretion disk wind. We probe the accretion disk wind using the broad balmer emission line profiles. This asymmetry of the broad balma emission line profiles is measured in velocity space after a measurement of the line shift at percentiles from 0, in increaments of 10, up to 90. In addition, the …
In this letter, we report positive correlations between broad line width and broad line flux for the broad balmer lines of the long-term observed AGN PG 1613+658. Rather than the expected negative correlations under the widely accepted virialization assumption for AGN BLRs, the positive correlations indicate much different BLR structures of PG 1613+658 from the commonly considered BLR structures which are dominated by the equilibrium between radiation pressure and gas pressure. Therefore, accretion disk origin is preferred for the observed broad single-peaked optical balmer lines of PG 1613+65…
We offer a broad review of Balmer line phenomenology in type 1 active galactic nuclei, briefly sum- marising luminosity and radio loudness effects, and discussing interpretation in terms of nebular physics along the 4D eigenvector 1 sequence of quasars. We stress that relatively rare, peculiar Balmer line profiles (i.e., with large shifts with respect to the rest frame or double and multiple peaked) that start attracted attentions since the 1970s are still passable of multiple dynamical interpretation. More mainstream objects are still not fully understood as well, since competing dynamical mo…
We have examined a subset of 18 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) drawn from a sample of 81 galaxies that possess double-peaked narrow optical emission line spectra in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, have two optical AGN emission components separated by >0.2", and are detected in the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters survey. Without follow-up observations, the sources of the double-peaked narrow emission lines are uncertain, and may be produced by kpc-scale separation dual active supermassive black holes, AGN outflows, or disk rotation. In this work, we propose a new methodology to…
This paper presents Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of 13 double-peaked [O III] emission-line type-2 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) at redshifts 0.06 < z < 0.41 (with a median redshift of z~0.15) identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Such double-peaked emission-line objects may result from jets or outflows from the central engine or from a dual AGN. The VLBA provides an angular resolution of <~10 pc at the distance of many of these galaxies, sufficient to resolve the radio emission from extremely close dual AGNs and to contribute to understanding the origin of double-peaked […
The Extreme Rarity and Physical Properties of Low-redshift AGNs with Balmer Absorption
The Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University（北京大学科维理天文与天体物理研究所）；Department of Astronomy, School of Physics, Peking University（北京大学物理学院天文学系）；Max Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics（马克斯·普朗克地外物理研究所）
LAMOST has released more than two million spectra, which provide the opportunity to search for double-peaked narrow emission line (NEL) galaxies and AGNs. The double-peaked narrow-line profiles can be well modeled by two velocity components, respectively blueshifted and redshifted with respect to the systemic recession velocity. This paper presents 20 double-peaked NEL galaxies and AGNs found from LAMOST DR1 using a search method based on multi-gaussian fit of the narrow emission lines. Among them, 10 have already been published by other authors, either listed as genuine double-peaked NEL obje…
We have performed a spectral decomposition to search for dual active galactic nuclei (DAGNs) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasars with $z<0.25$. Potential DAGN candidates are searched by referencing velocity offsets and spectral shapes of double-peaked [O III] lines of known DAGNs. Out of 1271 SDSS quasars, we have identified 77 DAGN candidates. Optical and mid-infrared diagnostic diagrams are used to investigate the ionizing source in the DAGN candidates. The optical diagnostic analysis suggests 93\% of them are powered by AGNs, and mid-infrared diagnostic analysis suggests 97\% are…
A previous narrow-slit ($0.1$ arcsec) Hubble Space Telescope observation unveiled a broad relativistic H$α$ profile in NGC3147, a low-luminosity ($\mathrm{L_{bol}}\sim10^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$), low-Eddington ratio ($\mathrm{L_{bol}/L_{Edd}}\sim10^{-4}$) active galactic nucleus (AGN), formerly believed to be a candidate true type 2 AGN intrinsically lacking the broad-line region. The new observations presented here confirm the double-peaked profile of the H$α$ line, which further shows variability both in flux and in the inner radius of the emitting disc with respect to the previous epoch. Similar…
Supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries form due to galaxy mergers and minor accretion events. When the SMBHs are accreting, they form dual or binary AGN and can give rise to double-peaked emission lines in the optical spectra of the merger remnant. The double-peaked emission lines could also be due to jet-ISM interaction or rotating disks. One of the best ways to confirm dual/binary AGN in double-peaked AGN (DPAGN) is by using high resolution radio observations. We have observed a sample of 20 DPAGN at two or more frequencies using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), of which one sourc…
Driven by the imminent need to rapidly process and classify millions of AGN spectra drawn from next generation astronomical facilities, we present a spectral fitting routine for Type 2 AGN spectra optimised for high volume processing, using the Quasar Spectral Fitting library (QSFit). We analyse an optically selected sample of 813 luminous Type 2 AGN spectra at $z < 0.83$ from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to qualify its performance. We report a median narrow line H$α$/H$β$ Balmer decrement of 4.5$\pm$0.8, alluding to the presence of dust in the narrow line region (NLR). We publish a spe…
We discuss the possible origin of the double-peaked profiles recently observed in Lyman-Alpha Emitters (LAEs) at the epoch of reionization ($z \gtrsim 6.5$) from obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN). Combining the extent of the Lyman-$α$ near-zones estimated from the blue peak velocity offset in these galaxies, with the ionizing emissivity of quasars at $z \gtrsim 6$, we forecast the intrinsic UV and X-ray luminosities of the AGN needed to give rise to their double-peaked profiles. We also estimate the extent of the obscuration of the AGN by comparing their luminosities to those of similar qu…
Double-peaked [O III]5007, profiles in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) may provide evidence for the existence of dual AGNs, but a good diagnostic for selecting them is currently lacking. Starting from $\sim$ 7000 active galaxies in SDSS DR7, we assemble a sample of 87 type 2 AGNs with double-peaked [O III]5007, profiles. The nuclear obscuration in the type 2 AGNs allows us to determine redshifts of host galaxies through stellar absorption lines. We typically find that one peak is redshifted and another is blueshifted relative to the host galaxy. We find a strong correlation between the ratios of…
We investigate the intrinsic Baldwin effect (Beff) of the broad H$α$ and H$β$ emission lines for six Type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with different broad line characteristics: two Seyfert 1 (NGC 4151 and NGC 5548), two AGNs with double-peaked broad line profiles (3C 390.3 and Arp 102B), one narrow line Seyfert 1 (Ark 564), and one high-luminosity quasar with highly red asymmetric broad line profiles (E1821+643). We found that a significant intrinsic Beff was present in all Type 1 AGNs in our sample. Moreover, we do not see strong difference in intrinsic Beff slopes in different types of A…
We present an analysis of the active galaxy SDSS J131642.90+175332.5, which is remarkable because all of its narrow emission lines are double-peaked, and because it additionally shows an extra broad component (FHWM ~ 1400 km/s) in most of its forbidden lines, peaking in between the two narrow systems. The peaks of the two narrow systems are separated by 400--500 km/s in velocity space. The spectral characteristics of double-peaked [O III] emission have previously been interpreted as a signature of dual or binary active galactic nuclei (AGNs), among other models. In the context of the binary sc…
A supermassive black hole (SMBH) ejected from the potential well of its host galaxy via gravitational wave recoil carries important information about the mass ratio and spin alignment of the pre-merger SMBH binary. Such a recoiling SMBH may be detectable as an active galactic nucleus (AGN) broad line region offset by up to 10\,kpc from a disturbed host galaxy. We describe a novel methodology using forward modeling with \texttt{The Tractor} to search for such offset AGN in a sample of 5493 optically variable AGN detected with the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). We present the discovery of 9 AG…
We present optical longslit observations of the complete sample of 71 Type 2 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with double-peaked narrow emission lines at $z < 0.1$ in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Double-peaked emission lines are produced by a variety of mechanisms including disk rotation, kpc-scale dual AGNs, and NLR kinematics (outflows or inflows). We develop a novel kinematic classification technique to determine the nature of these objects using longslit spectroscopy alone. We determine that 86% of the double-peaked profiles are produced by moderate luminosity AGN outflows, 6% are produced b…
Double-peaked emission line AGN (DPAGN) have been regarded as binary black hole candidates. We present here results from parsec-scale radio observations with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) of five DPAGN belonging to the KISSR sample of emission-line galaxies. This work concludes our pilot study of nine type 2 Seyfert and LINER DPAGN from the KISSR sample. In the nine sources, dual compact cores are only detected in the "offset AGN", KISSR 102. The overall incidence of jets however, in the eight sources detected with the VLBA, is $\ge$60%. We find a difference in the "missing flux density"…
ATLAS. II. Extremely High Incidence of Balmer Line Absorption with Predominant Blueshifts in LRDs: Statistical Insights through Comparison with Type 1 AGNs
Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, The University of Tokyo（东京大学宇宙射线研究所）；Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo（东京大学理学研究科物理系）；National Astronomical Observatory of Japan（日本国立天文台）；Astronomical Science Program, Graduate Institute for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI（SOKENDAI高级研究院天文学科学项目）；Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo（东京大学 Kavli宇宙物理数学研究所（WPI））
One percent of redshift z~0.1 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) show velocity splitting of a few hundred km/s in the narrow emission lines in spatially integrated spectra. Such line profiles have been found to arise from the bulk motion of ionized gas clouds associated with galactic-scale outflows, merging pairs of galaxies each harboring a supermassive black hole (SMBH), and/or galactic-scale disk rotation. It remains unclear, however, how the frequency of narrow-line velocity splitting may depend on AGN luminosity. Here we study the correlation between the fraction of Type 2 AGNs with double-pea…
A complete catalogue of broad-line AGNs and double-peaked emission lines from MaNGA integral-field spectroscopy of 10K galaxies: stellar population of AGNs, supermassive black holes, and dual AGNs
Different physical processes in galaxy evolution, such as galaxy mergers that lead to coalescence of dual Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and outflows emanating from the narrow line region, can leave their imprint on the optical spectra of AGN in the form of double-peaked narrow emission lines. To investigate the neutral gas in the centres of such AGN, we have conducted a pilot survey of HI 21-cm absorption, using the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT), in radio-loud AGN whose optical spectra show double-peaked [OIII] emission lines at z<=0.4 (median z~0.14). Among the eight sources…
The Seyfert galaxy NGC 5515 has double-peaked narrow-line emission in its optical spectrum, and it has been suggested that this could indicate that it has two active nuclei. We observed the source with high resolution Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at two radio frequencies, reduced archival Very Large Array data, and re-analysed its optical spectrum. We detected a single, compact radio source at the position of NGC 5515, with no additional radio emission in its vicinity. The optical spectrum of the source shows that the blue and red components of the double-peaked lines have very sim…
We apply an analytic Markov Chain Monte Carlo model to a sample of 18 AGN-driven biconical outflows that we identified from a sample of active galaxies with double-peaked narrow emission lines at z < 0.1 in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find that 8/18 are best described as asymmetric bicones, 8/18 are nested bicones, and 2/18 are symmetric bicones. From the geometry and kinematics of the models, we find that these moderate-luminosity AGN outflows are large and energetic. The biconical outflows axes are randomly oriented with respect to the photometric major axis of the galaxy, implying a ra…
Megahertz peaked-spectrum (MPS) sources have spectra that peak at frequencies below 1 GHz in the observer's frame and are believed to be radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN). We recently presented a new method to search for high-redshift AGN by identifying unusually compact MPS sources. In this paper, we present European VLBI Network (EVN) observations of 11 MPS sources which we use to determine their sizes and investigate the nature of the sources with ~10 mas resolution. Of the 11 sources, we detect nine with the EVN. Combining the EVN observations with spectral and redshift information, …
Double-peaked emission lines in the narrow- and/or broad-line spectra of AGN have been suggested to arise due to disky broad/narrow line regions, jet-medium interaction, or the presence of binary supermassive black holes. We present the results from 1.5 and 4.9 GHz phase-referenced Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations of the Seyfert type 2 galaxy KISSR 434, which exhibits double-peaked emission lines in its optical spectrum. We detect a steep-spectrum ($α<-1$), curved and long (~150 parsec) jet in the VLBI images of KISSR 434. The jet curvature could be a result of precession …
We present high resolution radio continuum observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array at 6, 8.5, 11.5 and 15 GHz of the double-peaked emission-line galaxy 2MASXJ12032061+1319316. The radio emission has a prominent S-shaped morphology with highly symmetric radio jets that extend over a distance of $\sim1.5^{\prime\prime}$ (1.74~kpc) on either side of the core of size $\sim0.1^{\prime\prime}$(116~pc). The radio jets have a helical structure resembling the precessing jets in the galaxy NGC~326 which has confirmed dual active galactic nuclei (AGN). The nuclear bulge velocity dispersion …
The current cosmological structure formation models predict that galaxies evolve through frequent mergers. During these events, the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) residing in the centres of the galaxies shrink to the central region, while losing energy via dynamical friction. Detection of SMBHs in these galaxy mergers is straightforward if they are actively accreting matter from their surroundings as active galactic nuclei (AGN). Currently, only a few dual AGN are known. One way to identify dual AGN candidates is by detecting double-peaked emission lines in their spectra. If these are broad …
