We have modeled the full velocity-resolved reverberation response of the H$β$ and He II optical broad emission lines in NGC 3783 to constrain the geometry and kinematics of the low-ionization and high-ionization broad line region. The geometry is found to be a thick disk that is nearly face on, inclined at $\sim 18^{\circ}$ to our line of sight, and exhibiting clear ionization stratification, with an extended H$β$-emitting region ($r_{\rm median}=10.07^{+1.10}_{-1.12}$ light days) and a more compact and centrally-located He II-emitting region ($r_{\rm median}=1.33^{+0.34}_{-0.42}$ light days). In the H$β$-emitting region, the kinematics are dominated by near-circular Keplerian orbits, but with $\sim 40$% of the orbits inflowing. The more compact He II-emitting region, on the other hand, appears to be dominated by outflowing orbits. The black hole mass is constrained to be $M_{\rm BH}=2.82^{+1.55}_{-0.63}\times10^7$ $M_{\odot}$, which is consistent with the simple reverberation constraint on the mass based on a mean time delay, line width, and scale factor of $\langle f \rangle=4.82$. The difference in kinematics between the H$β$- and He II-emitting regions of the BLR is intriguing given the recent history of large changes in the ionizing luminosity of NGC 3783 and evidence for possible changes in the BLR structure as a result.
We present spectroscopic and photometric monitoring of NGC 3783 conducted throughout the first half of 2020. Time delays between the continuum variations and the response of the broad optical emission lines were clearly detected, and we report reverberation measurements for H$β$, HeII $λ4686$, H$γ$, and H$δ$. From the time delay in the broad H$β$ emission line and the line width in the variable portion of the spectrum, we derive a black hole mass of $M_{\rm BH} = 2.34^{+0.43}_{-0.43} \times 10^7$ M$_{\odot}$. This is slightly smaller than, but consistent with, previous determinations. However,…
NGC 2617 has attracted a lot of attention after the detection of the changes in spectral type, and its geometry and kinematics of broad-line region (BLR) are still ambiguous. In this paper, we present the high cadence ($\sim$ 2 days) reverberation mapping campaign of NGC 2617 from 2019 October to 2020 May undertaken at Lijiang 2.4 m telescope. For the first time, the velocity-resolved reverberation signature of the object was successfully detected. Both H$α$ and H$β$ show an asymmetrical profile with a peak in the velocity-resolved time lags. For each of both lines, the lag of the line core is…
The nearby dwarf spiral galaxy NGC 4395 contains a broad-lined active galactic nucleus (AGN) of exceptionally low luminosity powered by accretion onto a central black hole of very low mass ($\sim10^4-10^5$ M$_\odot$). In order to constrain the size of the optical continuum emission region through reverberation mapping, we carried out high-cadence photometric monitoring of NGC 4395 in the $griz$ filter bands on two consecutive nights in 2022 April using the four-channel MuSCAT3 camera on the Faulkes Telescope North at Haleakalā Observatory. Correlated variability across the $griz$ bands is clea…
A large reverberation mapping study of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469 has yielded emission-line lags for Hbeta 4861 and He II 4686 and a central black hole mass measurement of about 10 million solar masses, consistent with previous measurements. A very low level of variability during the monitoring campaign precluded meeting our original goal of recovering velocity-delay maps from the data, but with the new Hbeta measurement, NGC 7469 is no longer an outlier in the relationship between the size of the Hbeta-emitting broad-line region and the AGN luminosity. It was necessary to detrend the conti…
NGC 5548 is one of the active galactic nuclei (AGN) selected for our long-term spectroscopic monitoring with the Lijiang 2.4~m telescope, aiming at investigating the origin and evolution of the broad-line regions (BLRs), accurately measuring the mass of the supermassive black holes (SMBHs), and understanding structure and evolution of the AGN. We have performed five-season observations for NGC~5548 with the median sampling interval ranging from 1.25 to 3 days. The light curves of the 5100~Å continuum and broad emission lines are measured after subtracting contamination of the host galaxy starl…
We present the results from a spectroscopic monitoring campaign to obtain reverberation-mapping measurements and investigate the broad-line region kinematics for active galactic nuclei (AGN) of Mrk~817 and NGC~7469. This campaign was undertaken with the Lijiang 2.4-meter telescope, the median spectroscopic sampling is 2.0 days for Mrk~817 and 1.0 days for NGC~7469. We detect time lags of the broad emission lines including H$β$, H$γ$, He~{\sc ii} and He~{\sc i} for both AGNs, and including Fe~{\sc ii} for Mrk~817 with respect to the varying AGN continuum at 5100~Å. Investigating the relationshi…
The changes of broad emission lines should be a crucial issue to understanding the physical properties of changing-look active galactic nucleus (CL-AGN). Here, we present the results of an intensive and homogeneous 6-month long reverberation mapping (RM) monitoring campaign during a low-activity state of the CL-AGN Seyfert galaxy NGC 3516. Photometric and spectroscopic monitoring was carried out during 2018--2019 with the Lijiang 2.4 m telescope. The sampling is 2 days in most nights, and the average sampling is $\sim$3 days. The rest frame time lags of H$α$ and H$β$ are $τ_{\rm{H}α}=7.56^{+4.…
We report the results of reverberation mapping three bright Seyfert galaxies, Mrk 79, NGC 3227, and Mrk 841, from a campaign conducted from December 2016 to May 2017 with the Wyoming Infrared Observatory (WIRO) 2.3-meter telescope. All three of these targets have shown asymmetric broad H$β$ emission lines in the past, although their emission lines were relatively symmetric during our observations. We measured Hβ time lags for all three targets and estimated masses of their black holes -- for the first time in the case of Mrk 841. For Mrk 79 and NGC 3227, the data are of sufficient quality to r…
NGC 5548 is the best-observed reverberation-mapped active galactic nucleus with long-term, intensive monitoring. Here we report results from a new observational campaign between January and July, 2015. We measure the centroid time lag of the broad H$β$ emission line with respect to the 5100 Åcontinuum and obtain $τ_{\rm cent} = 7.20^{+1.33}_{-0.35}$ days in the rest frame. This yields a black hole mass of $M_{\bullet}=8.71^{+3.21}_{-2.61} $x$ 10^{7}M_{\odot}$ using a broad H$β$ line dispersion of $3124\pm302$ km s$^{-1}$ and a virial factor of $f_{_{\rm BLR}}=6.3\pm1.5$ for the broad-line regi…
The dust reverberation mapping is one of powerful methods to investigate the structure of the dusty tori in AGNs, and it has been performed on more than a hundred type 1 AGNs. However, no clear results have been reported on type 2 AGNs because their strong optical-UV extinction completely hides their accretion disc emission. Here we focus on an X-ray-bright type 2 AGN, NGC 2110, and utilize 2-20 keV X-ray variation monitored by MAXI to trace disc emission, instead of optical-UV variation. Comparing it with light curves in the WISE infrared (IR) W1 band ($λ= 3.4$ $μ$m) and W2 band ($λ= 4.6$ $μ$…
The flux variations in the emission lines in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are driven by variations in the ionizing continuum flux --which are usually reflected in the observable UV-optical continuum. The "Reverberation mapping" technique measures the delay between line and continuum variations to determine the size of the line emitting region, this is the basis for measurements of the central black hole mass in AGNs. The Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project (AGN STORM) on NGC 5548 in 2014 is the most intensive multi-wavelength AGN monitoring campaign ever. For most of the…
We have recently initiated the first spectroscopic dust reverberation programme on active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the near-infrared. Spectroscopy enables measurement of dust properties, such as flux, temperature and covering factor, with higher precision than photometry. In particular, it enables measurement of both luminosity-based dust radii and dust response times. Here we report results from a one-year campaign on NGC 5548. The hot dust responds to changes in the irradiating flux with a lag time of ~70 light-days, similar to what was previously found in photometric reverberation campaigns…
The unusual behavior of the spectral lines of NGC5548 during the STORM campaign demonstrated a missing piece in the structure of AGNs. For a two-month period in the middle of the campaign, the spectral lines showed a deficit in flux and a reduced response to the variations of the UV continuum. This was the first time that this behavior was unequivocally observed in an AGN. Our previous papers explained this as being due to a variable disk-wind which acts as a shield and alters the SED. Here we use Cloudy to create an atlas of photoionization models for a variety of disk-winds to study their ef…
Changing-look active galactic nucleus NGC~4151, which has attracted a lot of attention, is undergoing the second dramatic outburst stage in its evolutionary history. To investigate the geometry and kinematics of the broad-line region (BLR), and measure the mass of supermassive black hole in NGC~4151, we perform a seven-month photometric and spectroscopic monitoring program in 2020--2021, using the 2.4 m telescope at Lijiang Observatory. We successfully measure the time lags of the responses from broad \ha, \hb, \hg, \hei, and \heii\ emission lines to continuum variation, which are $7.63_{-2.62…
We probe the dusty environment of the archetypical type-1 AGN in NGC 4151 with comprehensive IR reverberation mapping over several decades, in J ($\sim1.22μ$m), H ($\sim1.63μ$m), K ($\sim2.19μ$m), L ($\sim3.45μ$m) and N-band ($\sim10.6μm$), plus multiple measurements at 20--40 $μ$m. At 1--4$μ$m, the hot dust reverberation signals come from two distinct dust populations at separate radii ($\sim$0.033 pc and $\sim$0.076 pc), with temperatures of $\sim$1500--2500 K and $\sim$900--1000 K, consistent with the expected properties of sublimating graphite and silicate dust grains. The domination of th…
We have started a long-term reverberation mapping project using the Wyoming Infrared Observatory 2.3 meter telescope titled "Monitoring AGNs with Hβ Asymmetry" (MAHA). The motivations of the project are to explore the geometry and kinematics of the gas responsible for complex Hβ emission-line profiles, ideally leading to an understanding of the structures and origins of the broad-line region (BLR). Furthermore, such a project provides the opportunity to search for evidence of close binary supermassive black holes. We describe MAHA and report initial results from our first campaign, from Decemb…
In the sixth of the series of papers reporting on a large reverberation mapping (RM) campaign of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with high accretion rates, we present velocity-resolved time lags of H$β$ emission lines for nine objects observed in the campaign during 2012$-$2013. In order to correct the line-broadening caused by seeing and instruments before the analysis of velocity-resolved RM, we adopt Richardson-Lucy deconvolution to reconstruct their H$β$ profiles. The validity and effectiveness of the deconvolution are checked out by Monte Carlo simulation. Five among the nine objects show c…
We present optical continuum lags for two Seyfert 1 galaxies, MCG+08-11-011 and NGC 2617, using monitoring data from a reverberation mapping campaign carried out in 2014. Our light curves span the ugriz filters over four months, with median cadences of 1.0 and 0.6 days for MCG+08-11-011 and NGC\,2617, respectively, combined with roughly daily X-ray and near-UV data from Swift for NGC 2617. We find lags consistent with geometrically thin accretion-disk models that predict a lag-wavelength relation of $τ\propto λ^{4/3}$. However, the observed lags are larger than predictions based on standard th…
Validating the ICCF-Cut Method with Simultaneous Photometric and Spectroscopic H$α$ Reverberation Mapping of NGC 4151 and UGC 3374
Peking University(北京大学);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);Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院云南天文台);Key Laboratory for the Structure and Evolution of Celestial Objects, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院天体结构与演化重点实验室);Center for Astronomical Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院国家天文台);Key Laboratory of Radio Astronomy and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院射电天文与技术重点实验室)
Consistency between X-ray and UV-Optical reverberation measurements in NGC 5548
Center for Theoretical Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences(波兰科学院理论物理中心);Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences(捷克科学院天文研究所);Cahill Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology(加州理工学院卡希尔天体物理学与天文学中心);Department of Physics and Institute of Theoretical and Computational Physics, University of Crete(克里特大学物理系与理论与计算物理研究所);Institute of Astrophysics, FORTH(FORTH天体物理研究所)
We 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 our new observations with the 2.3m telescope at the Wyoming Infrared Observatory. We reduce and calibrate all the spectra in a consistent way, and derive light curves of the broad H$β$ line and 5100\,Å continuum. Continuum light curves are also constructed using public archival photometric data to increase sampling cadences. We subtract the host galaxy conta…
A Convolutional Neural Network for the Recovery of Transfer Functions From Velocity-Resolved Reverberation Mapping Data
JILA, University of Colorado Boulder(科罗拉多大学博尔德分校 JILA);SUPA Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews(圣安德鲁斯大学 SUPA 物理与天文);Environment and Climate Change Canada(加拿大环境与气候变化部)
We present the results of photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaigns of the changing look AGN NGC 3516 carried out in 2018 to 2020 covering the wavelength range from the X-ray to the optical. The facilities included the telescopes of the CMO SAI MSU, the 2.3-m WIRO telescope, and the XRT and UVOT of Swift. We found that NGC 3516 brightened to a high state and could be classified as Sy1.5 during the late spring of 2020. We have measured time delays in the responses of the Balmer and He II 4686 lines to continuum variations. In the case of the best-characterized broad H-beta line, the de…
We present the results of a high-cadence spectroscopic and imaging monitoring campaign of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) of NGC 4395. High signal-to-noise-ratio spectra were obtained at the Gemini-N 8 m telescope using the GMOS integral field spectrograph (IFS) on 2019 March 7, and at the Keck-I 10 m telescope using the Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) with slitmasks on 2019 March 3 and April 2. Photometric data were obtained with a number of 1 m-class telescopes during the same nights. The narrow-line region (NLR) is spatially resolved; therefore, its variable contributions to th…
The mass of a supermassive black hole ($M_\mathrm{BH}$) is a fundamental property that can be obtained through observational methods. Constraining $M_\mathrm{BH}$ through multiple methods for an individual galaxy is important for verifying the accuracy of different techniques, and for investigating the assumptions inherent in each method. NGC 4151 is one of those rare galaxies for which multiple methods can be used: stellar and gas dynamical modeling because of its proximity ($D=15.8\pm0.4$ Mpc from Cepheids), and reverberation mapping because of its active accretion. In this work, we re-analy…
Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. I. Ultraviolet Observations of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 5548 with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on Hubble Space Telescope
我们描述的第一个结果从一个为期六个月的混响映射实验在紫外线的基础上170观测的塞弗特1星系NGC 5548与宇宙起源光谱仪的哈勃太空望远镜。在连续谱和宽发射谱线中发现了显著的相关变异性,发射谱线中的振幅范围为~30%至2倍,连续谱中的振幅范围为3倍。所有强发射线的变化都滞后于连续谱线的变化,其中He II 1640滞后于连续谱线约2.5天,Lyman alpha 1215、C IV 1550和Si IV 1400滞后约5-6天。连续谱和发射谱线之间的关系是复杂的。特别是,在下半年的活动,所有的发射线滞后增加了1.3-2的因素和差异出现在详细结构的连续谱和发射线的光变曲线。速度分辨互相关分析表明,相干结构的滞后与视线速度的发射线; C IV的高速机翼响应连续变化更迅速地比线的核心,可能表明更高的速度BLR云在较小的距离,从中央引擎。然而,莱曼α的速度依赖性响应更为复杂,需要进一步分析。
The Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4593 was monitored spectroscopically with the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a reverberation mapping campaign that also included Swift, Kepler and ground-based photometric monitoring. During 2016 July 12 - August 6, we obtained 26 spectra across a nearly continuous wavelength range of ~1150 - 10,000A. These were combined with Swift data to produce a UV/optical "lag spectrum", which shows the interband lag relative to the Swift UVW2 band as a function of wavelength. The broad shape of the lag spectrum appears to follow the $τ\propto λ^{4/3}$ relation seen previously …
The unusually red delay spectrum of the low-mass black hole AGN NGC\,4051 as revealed by intensive continuum reverberation mapping with the Las Cumbres Observatory
Wayne State University(韦恩州立大学);University of St Andrews(圣安德鲁斯大学);Durham University(杜伦大学);Spectral Sciences Inc.(光谱科学公司);University of Johannesburg(约翰内斯堡大学);University of California, Irvine(加州大学尔湾分校);University of Leicester(莱斯特大学)
NGC 4051低质量黑洞的异常红色延迟光谱通过密集连续反照率测绘揭示,其i和z_s波段延迟显著超出预期,可能由尘埃reddening或连续贡献解释。
Off-Axis Energy Generation in Active Galactic Nuclei: Explaining Broad-Line Profiles, Spectropolarimetric Observations, and Velocity-Resolved Reverberation Mapping
We present the results of the reverberation monitoring aimed at MgII broad line and FeII pseudocontinuum for the luminous quasar CTS C30.10 (z = 0.90052) with the Southern African Large Telescope covering the years 2012-2021. We aimed at disentangling the MgII and UV FeII variability and the first measurement of UV FeII time delay for a distant quasar. We used several methods for time-delay measurements and determined both FeII and MgII time delays as well as performed a wavelength-resolved time delay study for a combination of MgII and FeII in the 2700 - 2900 Årestframe wavelength range. We o…
The Intermediate-Mass Black Hole Reverberation Mapping Project: Stable Optical Continuum Lags of an IMBH in the Dwarf Galaxy NGC 4395 Over Years
South-Western Institute for Astronomy Research, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Survey Science, Yunnan University(西南天文研究所,云南省观测科学重点实验室,云南大学);Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences(上海天文台,中国科学院);Department of Astronomy, Xiamen University(厦门大学天文学系);University of Science and Technology of China(中国科学技术大学)
In 2014 the NGC 5548 Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping campaign discovered a two-month anomaly when variations in the absorption and emission lines decorrelated from continuum variations. During this time the soft X-ray part of the intrinsic spectrum had been strongly absorbed by a line-of-sight (LOS) obscurer, which was interpreted as the upper part of a disk wind. Our first paper showed that changes in the LOS obscurer produce the decorrelation between the absorption lines and the continuum. A second study showed that the base of the wind shields the BLR, leading to the emiss…
We present the first results from a reverberation-mapping campaign undertaken during the first half of 2012, with additional data on one AGN (NGC 3227) from a 2014 campaign. Our main goals are (1) to determine the black hole masses from continuum-Hbeta reverberation signatures, and (2) to look for velocity-dependent time delays that might be indicators of the gross kinematics of the broad-line region. We successfully measure Hbeta time delays and black hole masses for five AGNs, four of which have previous reverberation mass measurements. The values measured here are in agreement with earlier …
Spectroscopic observations of the low luminosity Seyfert 1 nucleus in NGC 3516 obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope show that the visible spectrum is dominated by the Balmer emission lines of Hydrogen (H) and a continuum luminosity that rises into the UV. The anomalous H$α$/H$β$ emission line ratio, the Balmer emission line luminosity and the distinctive shape observed for the H$α$ emission line profile serve as important constraints in any photoionization model aimed at explaining the visible emission line spectrum of NGC 3516. Photoionization modeling using Cloudy demonstrates that the c…
We present the first results from an optical reverberation mapping campaign executed in 2014, targeting the active galactic nuclei (AGN) MCG+08-11-011, NGC 2617, NGC 4051, 3C 382, and Mrk 374. Our targets have diverse and interesting observational properties, including a "changing look" AGN and a broad-line radio galaxy. Based on continuum-H$β$ lags, we measure black hole masses for all five targets. We also obtain H$γ$ and He{\sc ii}\,$λ4686$ lags for all objects except 3C 382. The He{\sc ii}\,$λ4686$ lags indicate radial stratification of the BLR, and the masses derived from different emissi…
In recent years, continuum reverberation mapping involving high cadence UV/optical monitoring campaigns of nearby Active Galactic Nuclei has been used to infer the size of their accretion disks. One of the main results from these campaigns has been that in many cases the accretion disks appear too large, by a factor of 2 - 3, compared to standard models. Part of this may be due to diffuse continuum emission from the broad line region (BLR), which is indicated by excess lags around the Balmer jump. Standard cross correlation lag analysis techniques are usually used to just recover the peak or c…
We present the results of CO(J=3-2) on-the-fly mappings of two nearby non-barred spiral galaxies NGC 628 and NGC 7793 with the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment at an effective angular resolution of 25". We successfully obtained global distributions of CO(J=3-2) emission over the entire disks at a sub-kpc resolution for both galaxies. We examined the spatially-resolved (sub-kpc) relationship between CO(J=3-2) luminosities (L'CO(3-2)) and infrared (IR) luminosities (LIR) for NGC 628, NGC 7793, and M 83, and compared it with global luminosities of JCMT Nearby Galaxy Legacy Survey sample…
Archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of the Seyfert 1 nucleus of NGC 3227 obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) are re-examined in order to constrain a viable photoionization model for the broad-line region (BLR). The results imply that the BLR is a partially ionized, dust-free, spherical shell that is collapsing, supersonically, at the free-fall velocity due to its proximity to a supermassive black hole. The BLR is ionization bounded at the outer radius, coincident with the dust reverberation radius, and transforms into an X-ray emitting plasma inside the…
We present ground-based optical photometric monitoring data for NGC 5548, part of an extended multi-wavelength reverberation mapping campaign. The light curves have nearly daily cadence from 2014 January to July in nine filters (\emph{BVRI} and \emph{ugriz}). Combined with ultraviolet data from the \emph{Hubble Space Telescope} and \emph{Swift}, we confirm significant time delays between the continuum bands as a function of wavelength, extending the wavelength coverage from 1158\,Å to the $z$ band ($\sim\!9160$\,Å). We find that the lags at wavelengths longer than the {\it V} band are equal to…
During an intensive Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) UV monitoring campaign of the Seyfert~1 galaxy NGC 5548 performed from 2014 February to July, the normally highly correlated far-UV continuum and broad emission-line variations decorrelated for ~60 to 70 days, starting ~75 days after the first HST/COS observation. Following this anomalous state, the flux and variability of the broad emission lines returned to a more normal state. This transient behavior, characterised by significant deficits in flux and equivalent width of the strong broad UV emission lines, is …
During the Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project (STORM) observations of NGC 5548, the continuum and emission-line variability became de-correlated during the second half of the 6-month long observing campaign. Here we present Swift and Chandra X-ray spectra of NGC 5548 obtained as a part of the campaign. The Swift spectra show that excess flux (relative to a power-law continuum) in the soft X-ray band appears before the start of the anomalous emission-line behavior, peaks during the period of the anomaly, and then declines. This is a model-independent result suggesting tha…
The X-ray/UV Connection in NGC 5548: A Rapidly Varying Corona
University of Crete(克里特大学);Institute of Astrophysics, FORTH(FORTH天体物理研究所);MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology(麻省理工学院卡弗里天体物理与空间研究所);Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology(加州理工学院凯尔天文学与天体物理学中心);Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences(科学院天文研究所)