Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons^™

Strong Variability Of The Coronal Line Region In Ngc 5548, Hermine Landt, Martin J. Ward, Katrien C. Steenbrugge, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present the second extensive study of the coronal line variability in an active galaxy. Our data set for the well-studied Seyfert galaxy NGC 5548 consists of five epochs of quasi-simultaneous optical and near-infrared spectroscopy spanning a period of about five years and three epochs of X-ray spectroscopy overlapping in time with it. Whereas the broad emission lines and hot dust emission varied only moderately, the coronal lines varied strongly. However, the observed high variability is mainly due to a flux decrease. Using the optical [Fe vii] and X-ray O vii emission lines we estimate that the coronal line gas …

Gamma-Rays From The Quasar Pks 1441+25: Story Of An Escape, P. T. Reynolds, Et Al

Physical Sciences Publications

Outbursts from gamma-ray quasars provide insights on the relativistic jets of active galactic nuclei and constraints on the diffuse radiation fields that fill the universe. The detection of significant emission above 100 GeV from a distant quasar would show that some of the radiated gamma-rays escape pair-production interactions with low-energy photons, be it the extragalactic background light (EBL), or the radiation near the supermassive black hole lying at the jet's base. VERITAS detected gamma-ray emission up to ~200 GeV from PKS 1441+25 (z = 0.939) during 2015 April, a period of high activity across all wavelengths. This observation of …

Variability Of The Coronal Line Region In Ngc 4151, Hermine Landt, Martin J. Ward, Katrien C. Steenbrugge, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present the first extensive study of the coronal line variability in an active galaxy. Our data set for the nearby source NGC 4151 consists of six epochs of quasi-simultaneous optical and near-infrared spectroscopy spanning a period of about 8 yr and five epochs of X-ray spectroscopy overlapping in time with it. None of the coronal lines showed the variability behaviour observed for the broad emission lines and hot dust emission. In general, the coronal lines varied only weakly, if at all. Using the optical [Fe vii] and X-ray O vii emission lines we estimate that the coronal line gas …

Faint Agns At Z > 4 In The Candels Goods-S Field: Looking For Contributors To The Reionization Of The Universe, E. Giallongo, A. Grazian, F. Fiore, A. Fontana, L. Pentericci, E. Vanzella, M. Dickinson, Dale D. Kocevski, M. Castellano, S. Christiani, H. Ferguson, S. Finkelstein, N. Grogin, N. Hathi, A. M. Koekemoer, J. A. Newman, M. Salvato

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Context. Establishing the number of faint active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at z = 4−6 is crucial to understanding their cosmological importance as main contributors to the reionization of the Universe.

Aims. In order to derive the AGN contribution to the cosmological ionizing emissivity we have selected faint AGN candidates at z> 4 in the CANDELS GOODS-South field, which is one of the deepest fields with extensive multiwavelength coverage from Chandra, HST, Spitzer, and various ground-based telescopes.

Methods. We have adopted a relatively novel criterion. As a first step, high redshift galaxies are selected in the NIR H band …

Atomic Data For Zn Ɪɪ: Improving Spectral Diagnostics Of Chemical Evolution In High-Redshift Galaxies, Romas Kisielius, Varsha P. Kulkarni, Gary J. Ferland, Pavel Bogdanovich, Debopam Som, Matt L. Lykins

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Damped Lyα (DLA) and sub-DLA absorbers in quasar spectra provide the most sensitive tools for measuring the element abundances of distant galaxies. The estimation of abundances from absorption lines depends sensitively on the accuracy of the atomic data used. We have started a project to produce new atomic spectroscopic parameters for optical and UV spectral lines using state-of-the-art computer codes employing a very broad configuration interaction (CI) basis. Here we report our results for Zn ii, an ion used widely in studies of the interstellar medium (ISM) as well as DLAs and sub-DLAs. We report new calculations of many …

Population Dynamics In Active Galactic Nuclei, Jon Bessler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis is to present an approach to understanding the dynamics that govern the evolution of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in general, and those associated with spiral galaxies in particular. This approach starts with the continuity equation governing the mass function for a population of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). This approach is then extended to the luminosity function for AGN. Where the dynamical parameters that govern accretion are fairly well known, those values are adopted. The values that are not as well known are constrained by comparing evolved luminosity functions with observed luminosity functions. Boundary conditions for …

A Connection Between Obscuration And Star Formation In Luminous Quasars, Chien-Ting J. Chen, Ryan C. Hickox, Stacey Alberts, Chris M. Harrison

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present a measurement of the star formation properties of a uniform sample of mid-IR selected, unobscured and obscured quasars (QSO1s and QSO2s) in the Bo\"otes survey region. We use an spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis for photometric data spanning optical to far-IR wavelengths to decompose AGN and host galaxy components. We find that when compared to a matched sample of QSO1s, the QSO2s have higher far-IR detection fractions, far-IR fluxes and infrared star formation luminosities (L^SF_IR) by a factor of ∼2. Correspondingly, we show that the AGN obscured fraction rises from 0.3 to 0.7 between 4−40×10 …