Broad Line Regions (BLRs) are known to contain gravitationally-bound gas within r~(few) 10^2-10^3 Schwarszchild radii (Rs) near supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). Photo-ionized by strong non-stellar AGN continuum, this gas emits luminous ultraviolet/optical/near-infrared lines from ionized hydrogen (and other multi-ionized atoms) that have the widest velocity profiles observed in galaxies, uniquely indicating the deep gravitational wells of SMBHs. Nearly all BLR studies focus on its ionized gas phase (hereafter BLR+), with typical masses of only a few 10-100 M_Sun, despite strong indications of neutral BLR gas reservoirs (hereafter BLR0) with M_BLR0~10^{5-6} M_Sun. We used the photoionization code CLOUDY, with its chemistry augmented using three-body reactions, to explore 1-D models of dustless BLRs, focusing on the BLR0 conditions, and the abundances of its most prevalent neutral atoms and molecules. A neutral-atom-) and molecule-rich BLR0 gas phase is found underlying the BLR+, the latter occupying only a thin outer layer of AGN-irradiated gas column densities, while the former contains the bulk of the BLR gas mass. Atomic carbon and oxygen as well as the CO molecule can reach substantial abundances in the BLR0, while their lines at infrared and submillimeter wavelengths can yield new probes of the BLR physical conditions and dynamics, unhindered by the dust absorption from outer AGN tori that readily absorb the BLR+ optical/far-ultraviolet (FUV) lines. We find that neutral-atom-rich neutral-atom-rich and even molecule-rich gas can exist in the BLR0. The corresponding spectral lines from neutral atoms and molecules promise a new spectral window of gas dynamics in the vicinity of~SMBHs unhindered by dust absorption. This may even offer the prospect of conducting novel tests of general relativity in strongly curved spacetimes.
The Neutral Atomic Hydrogen in the solar neighborhood (NeAtHood) project I. Ghost in the shell: Neutral atomic hydrogen in the extended Orion nebula
University of Vienna(维也纳大学);Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy(马克斯·普朗克天文学研究所);Universität Heidelberg(海德堡大学);National Radio Astronomy Observatory(美国国家射电天文台);Deutsches Zentrum for Astrophysics(德国天体物理中心);Stanford University(斯坦福大学);Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology(加州理工学院喷气推进实验室)
Hot Gas Flows on Parsec Scale in the Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nucleus NGC 3115
NGC 3115被称为低光度活动星系核,拥有最近的($z\sim0.002$)十亿太阳质量超大质量黑洞($\sim1.5\times10^9~M_\odot$)。它的Bondi半径$r_\mathrm{B}$($\sim3\farcs6$)可以很容易地用Chandra解决,这为我们研究超大质量黑洞的吸积流提供了一个很好的机会。在本文中,我们进行二维流体动力学数值模拟,量身定制的NGC 3115,在质量流的邦迪半径。我们对密度和温度的最佳拟合与NGC 3115中心热星际介质的观测结果吻合得很好。我们发现,流的性质完全取决于星系中心的局部星系性质:(1)恒星风(2)与一维计算类似,二维模拟中也发现了一个滞止半径$r_\mathrm{st}\sim0.1~r_\mathrm{B}$,它将质量流划分为一个流入-流出结构;(3)在引力由超大质量黑洞主导,气体由旋转支撑的停滞半径内,辐射无效吸积流理论适用;(4)在滞止半径以外,恒星引力支配着球面引力类似于流体动力学,并导致从Bondi半径外部的陡峭密度分布到Bondi半径内部的平坦密度分布的过渡。
Little red dots as young supermassive black holes in dense ionized cocoons
University of Manchester(曼彻斯特大学);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);Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva(日内瓦大学天文学系);The Queen’s University of Belfast(贝尔法斯特女王大学);University of Sussex(萨塞克斯大学)
Machine Learning-Based Classification of Active Galaxies and Estimation of Supermassive Black Hole Masses
School of Astronomy, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences-IPM(基础科学研究院天文学学院);Department of Physics, K. N. Toosi University of Technology(K.N.托伊西理工大学物理系);Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie(马克斯·普朗克射电天文研究所)
Direct probe of the inner accretion flow around the supermassive black hole in NGC 2617
NGC 2617是一个邻近的($z\sim 0.01$)活跃星系,最近从塞弗特1.8转变为塞弗特1.0。与此同时,相对于档案测量,它的X射线通量大幅增加了一个数量级。为了研究外观变化的活动星系核(AGN)的物理性质,我们测量了NGC 2617的X射线光谱和时间特性。我们对间隔一个月的两个XMM-牛顿定点观测进行了全面的时间和谱分析,并辅以存档的准同步积分观测。我们发现,一阶,NGC 2617看起来像一个1型活动星系核的X射线波段,并增加了一个适度的反射组件,其连续可以建模以及与幂律加上一个唯象黑体,一个部分覆盖的幂律,或双康普顿模型。与所采用的连续体无关,在所有三种情况下,数据要求覆盖连续体源的20- 40%的中性气体的几个$10^{23}$ cm $^{-2}$的柱密度。最有趣的是,吸收结构,由于高度电离铁已被检测到在这两个观测与红移约$0.1c$相对于系统的主机星系的红移。红移的吸收体可以归因于失败的风/中止喷流组件,引力红移效应,和/或直接向中央超大质量黑洞下降的物质。无论哪种情况,我们都在探测NGC 2617中心超大质量黑洞周围最里面的吸积流,甚至可能观察到物质直接流入黑洞本身。
位于银河系中心的黑洞--银河系黑洞,简称GBH--是同类黑洞中一个相当温和的代表。它的质量为4 x 10^6太阳质量,比已知的最极端的超大质量黑洞的质量小一千多倍,而这些黑洞是最明亮的类星体的动力来源。此外,银河系黑洞有一个非常暗淡的吸积流,它的光能输出被周围密集的明亮恒星和红巨星所淹没,除了无线电波波长。然而,GBH的接近弥补了它的限制活动;它比星系核中下一个最近的超大质量黑洞近100倍以上,它为我们提供了一个无与伦比的机会来详细观察它的行为。因此,对GBH及其周围恒星和气体的观测关注远远超过太阳系外的任何其他单一物体。这篇综述涵盖了我们认识GBH的历史,它目前已知的物理特征,它当前和过去活动的表现形式,以及通过未来研究完善我们知识的前景。
Unveiling the properties of galaxy cores excavated by supermassive black hole binaries with SHARP
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova(意大利国家天体物理研究所帕多瓦天文台);INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico d’Abruzzo(意大利国家天体物理研究所阿布鲁佐天文台);Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “G. Galilei”, Università di Padova(帕多瓦大学伽利略物理与天文系);INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera(意大利国家天体物理研究所布雷拉天文台);School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Surrey(萨里大学数理学院)