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2013

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Articles 1 - 30 of 33

Full-Text Articles in External Galaxies

A Search For Enhanced Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Emission From The 2013 March Crab Nebula Flare, P. T. Reynolds, Et Al Dec 2013

A Search For Enhanced Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Emission From The 2013 March Crab Nebula Flare, P. T. Reynolds, Et Al

Physical Sciences Publications

In 2013 March, a flaring episode from the Crab Nebula lasting ~2 weeks was detected by Fermi-LAT (Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope). The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) provides simultaneous observations throughout this period. During the flare, Fermi-LAT detected a 20 fold increase in flux above the average synchrotron flux >100 MeV seen from the Crab Nebula. Simultaneous measurements with VERITAS are consistent with the non-variable long-term average Crab Nebula flux at TeV energies. Assuming a linear correlation between the very high energy flux change >1 TeV and the flux …


The Halo Occupation Distribution Of X-Ray-Bright Active Galactic Nuclei: A Comparison With Luminous Quasars, Jonathan Richardson, Suchetana Chatterjee, Zheng Zheng, Adam D. Myers, Ryan Hickox Dec 2013

The Halo Occupation Distribution Of X-Ray-Bright Active Galactic Nuclei: A Comparison With Luminous Quasars, Jonathan Richardson, Suchetana Chatterjee, Zheng Zheng, Adam D. Myers, Ryan Hickox

Dartmouth Scholarship

We perform halo occupation distribution (HOD) modeling of the projected two-point correlation function (2PCF) of high-redshift (z~1.2) X-ray-bright active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the XMM-COSMOS field measured by Allevato et al. The HOD parameterization is based on low-luminosity AGN in cosmological simulations. At the median redshift of z~1.2, we derive a median mass of (1.02+0.21/-0.23)x10^{13} Msun/h for halos hosting central AGN and an upper limit of ~10% on the AGN satellite fraction. Our modeling results indicate (at the 2.5-sigma level) that X-ray AGN reside in more massive halos compared to more bolometrically luminous, optically-selected quasars at similar redshift. The modeling …


Veritas Observations Of The Microquasar Cygnus X-3, P. T. Reynolds, Et Al Dec 2013

Veritas Observations Of The Microquasar Cygnus X-3, P. T. Reynolds, Et Al

Physical Sciences Publications

We report results from TeV gamma-ray observations of the microquasar Cygnus X-3. The observations were made with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) over a time period from 2007 June 11 to 2011 November 28. VERITAS is most sensitive to gamma rays at energies between 85 GeV and 30 TeV. The effective exposure time amounts to a total of about 44 hr, with the observations covering six distinct radio/X-ray states of the object. No significant TeV gamma-ray emission was detected in any of the states, nor with all observations combined. The lack of a positive signal, especially …


Time Variation Of The Broad Hβ And Hα Emission Lines In Active Galactic Nuclei, Bryan R. Scott Dec 2013

Time Variation Of The Broad Hβ And Hα Emission Lines In Active Galactic Nuclei, Bryan R. Scott

Physics

High-quality Keck/LRIS long-slit spectra for a sample of 97 active galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (redshift between 0.02 & 0.1; Black Hole Mass approximately 107 Solar Masses) were obtained between January 2009 and March 2010 in order to study the black hole (BH) mass scaling relation in the local universe. Typically, the width of the broad Hβ emission line is used to measure the mass of the black hole (MBH). However, signs of variability in the emission line profile are seen for eight objects: While broad Hβ emission lines had previously been observed in spectra from …


Spectral Energy Distributions Of Type 1 Agn In Xmm-Cosmos – Ii. Shape Evolution, Heng Hao, Martin Elvis, Francesca Civano, Gianni Zamorani Nov 2013

Spectral Energy Distributions Of Type 1 Agn In Xmm-Cosmos – Ii. Shape Evolution, Heng Hao, Martin Elvis, Francesca Civano, Gianni Zamorani

Dartmouth Scholarship

The mid-infrared to ultraviolet (0.1 -- 10 μm) spectral energy distribution (SED) shapes of 407 X-ray-selected radio-quiet type 1 AGN in the wide-field ``Cosmic Evolution Survey" (COSMOS) have been studied for signs of evolution. For a sub-sample of 200 radio-quiet quasars with black hole mass estimates and host galaxy corrections, we studied their mean SEDs as a function of a broad range of redshift, bolometric luminosity, black hole mass and Eddington ratio, and compared them with the Elvis et al. (1994, E94) type 1 AGN mean SED. We found that the mean SEDs in each bin are closely similar to …


The Xmm-Newton Spectrum Of A Candidate Recoiling Supermassive Black Hole: An Elusive Inverted P-Cygni Profile, G. Lanzuisi, F. Civano, S. Marchesi, A. Comastri Nov 2013

The Xmm-Newton Spectrum Of A Candidate Recoiling Supermassive Black Hole: An Elusive Inverted P-Cygni Profile, G. Lanzuisi, F. Civano, S. Marchesi, A. Comastri

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present a detailed spectral analysis of new XMM-Newton data of the source CXOC J100043.1+020637, also known as CID-42, detected in the COSMOS survey at z = 0.359. Previous works suggested that CID-42 is a candidate recoiling supermassive black hole (SMBH) showing also an inverted P-Cygni profile in the X-ray spectra at ~6 keV (rest) with an iron emission line plus a redshifted absorption line (detected at 3σ in previous XMM-Newton and Chandra observations). Detailed analysis of the absorption line suggested the presence of ionized material flowing into the black hole at high velocity. In the …


Hard X-Ray Lags In Active Galactic Nuclei: Testing The Distant Reverberation Hypothesis With Ngc 6814, D. J. Walton, A. Zoghbi, E. M. Cackett, P. Uttley, F. A. Harrison, A. C. Fabian, E. Kara, J. M. Miller, R. C. Reis, C. S. Reynolds Nov 2013

Hard X-Ray Lags In Active Galactic Nuclei: Testing The Distant Reverberation Hypothesis With Ngc 6814, D. J. Walton, A. Zoghbi, E. M. Cackett, P. Uttley, F. A. Harrison, A. C. Fabian, E. Kara, J. M. Miller, R. C. Reis, C. S. Reynolds

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

We present an X-ray spectral and temporal analysis of the variable active galaxy NGC 6814, observed with Suzaku during 2011 November. Remarkably, the X-ray spectrum shows no evidence for the soft excess commonly observed amongst other active galaxies, despite its relatively low level of obscuration, and is dominated across the whole Suzaku bandpass by the intrinsic powerlaw-like continuum. Despite this, we clearly detect the presence of a low-frequency hard lag of ~1600 s between the 0.5-2.0 and 2.0-5.0 keV energy bands at greater than 6σ significance, similar to those reported in the literature for a variety of other active galactic …


Calculating Time Lags From Unevenly Sampled Light Curves, A. Zoghbi, C. Reynolds, E. M. Cackett Nov 2013

Calculating Time Lags From Unevenly Sampled Light Curves, A. Zoghbi, C. Reynolds, E. M. Cackett

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

Timing techniques are powerful tools to study dynamical astrophysical phenomena. In the X-ray band, they offer the potential of probing accretion physics down to the event horizon. Recent work has used frequency- and energy-dependent time lags as tools for studying relativistic reverberation around the black holes in several Seyfert galaxies. This was achieved due to the evenly sampled light curves obtained using XMM-Newton. Continuously sampled data are, however, not always available and standard Fourier techniques are not applicable. Here, building on the work of Miller et al., we discuss and use a maximum likelihood method to obtain frequency-dependent lags that …


Finding Rare Agn: Xmm-Newton And Chandra Observations Of Sdss Stripe 82, Stephanie M. Lamassa, C. Megan Urry, Nico Cappelluti, Francesca Civano Oct 2013

Finding Rare Agn: Xmm-Newton And Chandra Observations Of Sdss Stripe 82, Stephanie M. Lamassa, C. Megan Urry, Nico Cappelluti, Francesca Civano

Dartmouth Scholarship

We have analysed the XMM–Newton and Chandra data overlapping ∼16.5 deg2 of Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82, including ∼4.6 deg2 of proprietary XMM–Newton data that we present here. In total, 3362 unique X-ray sources are detected at high significance. We derive the XMM–Newton number counts and compare them with our previously reported Chandra logN–logS relations and other X-ray surveys. The Stripe 82 X-ray source lists have been matched to multiwavelength catalogues using a maximum likelihood estimator algorithm. We discovered the highest redshift (z = 5.86) quasar yet identified in an X-ray survey. We …


Gaussian Representation Of Active Galactic Nuclei, Jeffrey W. Klimes, Matthew Lister Oct 2013

Gaussian Representation Of Active Galactic Nuclei, Jeffrey W. Klimes, Matthew Lister

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are the areas around the centers of galaxies with high luminosity in much of the electromagnetic spectrum. The existing model of AGN describes the high luminosity as the result of accretion of matter around a black hole at the galaxy’s center. Many AGN generate superluminal jets of density higher than the surrounding interstellar medium. The cause for and mechanics driving the relativistic jets are not well understood. In addition, the jets often change direction decaparsecs away from their associated cores, the cause of which has not been well explained. In order to better understand the mechanics …


Bound Orbits And Virial Theorem In A Dark Energy Universe, Kristen Lackeos Oct 2013

Bound Orbits And Virial Theorem In A Dark Energy Universe, Kristen Lackeos

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.


Discovery Of High-Frequency Iron K Lags In Ark 564 And Mrk 335, E. Kara, A. C. Fabian, E. M. Cackett, P. Uttley, D. R. Wilkins, A. Zoghbi Sep 2013

Discovery Of High-Frequency Iron K Lags In Ark 564 And Mrk 335, E. Kara, A. C. Fabian, E. M. Cackett, P. Uttley, D. R. Wilkins, A. Zoghbi

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

We use archival XMM-Newton observations of Ark 564 and Mrk 335 to calculate the frequency-dependent time lags for these two well-studied sources. We discover high-frequency Fe K lags in both sources, indicating that the red wing of the line precedes the rest-frame energy by roughly 100 and 150 s for Ark 564 and Mrk 335, respectively. Including these two new sources, Fe K reverberation lags have been observed in seven Seyfert galaxies. We examine the low-frequency lag-energy spectrum, which is smooth, and shows no feature of reverberation, as would be expected if the low-frequency lags were produced by distant reflection …


Discovery Of High-Frequency Iron K Lags In Ark 564 And Mrk 335, E. Kara, A. C. Fabian, E. M. Cackett, P. Uttley, D. R. Wilkins, A. Zoghbi Sep 2013

Discovery Of High-Frequency Iron K Lags In Ark 564 And Mrk 335, E. Kara, A. C. Fabian, E. M. Cackett, P. Uttley, D. R. Wilkins, A. Zoghbi

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

We use archival XMM-Newton observations of Ark 564 and Mrk 335 to calculate the frequency-dependent time lags for these two well-studied sources. We discover high-frequency Fe K lags in both sources, indicating that the red wing of the line precedes the rest-frame energy by roughly 100 and 150 s for Ark 564 and Mrk 335, respectively. Including these two new sources, Fe K reverberation lags have been observed in seven Seyfert galaxies. We examine the low-frequency lag-energy spectrum, which is smooth, and shows no feature of reverberation, as would be expected if the low-frequency lags were produced by distant reflection …


Salt Long-Slit Spectroscopy Of Luminous Obscured Quasars: An Upper Limit On The Size Of The Narrow-Line Region?, Kevin N. Hainline, Ryan Hickox, Jenny E. Greene, Adam D. Myers, Nadia L. Zakamska Aug 2013

Salt Long-Slit Spectroscopy Of Luminous Obscured Quasars: An Upper Limit On The Size Of The Narrow-Line Region?, Kevin N. Hainline, Ryan Hickox, Jenny E. Greene, Adam D. Myers, Nadia L. Zakamska

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present spatially resolved long-slit spectroscopy from the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) to examine the spatial extent of the narrow-line regions (NLRs) of a sample of 8 luminous obscured quasars at 0.10 < z < 0.43. Our results are consistent with an observed shallow slope in the relationship between NLR size and L_[OIII], which has been interpreted to indicate that NLR size is limited by the density and ionization state of the NLR gas rather than the availability of ionizing photons. We also explore how the NLR size scales with a more direct measure of instantaneous AGN power using mid-IR photometry from WISE, which probes warm to hot dust near the central black hole and so, unlike [OIII], does not depend on the properties of the NLR. Using our results as well as samples from the literature, we obtain a power-law relationship between NLR size and L_8micron that is significantly steeper than that observed for NLR size and L_[OIII]. We find that the size of the NLR goes approximately as L^(1/2)_8micron, as expected from the simple scenario of constant-density clouds illuminated by a central ionizing source. We further see tentative evidence for a flattening of the relationship between NLR size and L_8micron at the high luminosity end, and propose that we are seeing a limiting NLR size of 10 - 20 kpc, beyond which the availability of gas to ionize becomes too low. We find that L_[OIII] ~ L_8micron^(1.4), consistent with a picture in which the L_[OIII] is dependent on the volume of the NLR. These results indicate that high-luminosity quasars have a strong effect in ionizing the available gas in a galaxy.


A Quasar–Galaxy Mixing Diagram: Quasar Spectral Energy Distribution Shapes In The Optical To Near-Infrared, Heng Hao, Martin Elvis, Angela Bongiorno, Gianni Zamorani, Andrea Merloni, C. Kelly, Francesca Civano Jul 2013

A Quasar–Galaxy Mixing Diagram: Quasar Spectral Energy Distribution Shapes In The Optical To Near-Infrared, Heng Hao, Martin Elvis, Angela Bongiorno, Gianni Zamorani, Andrea Merloni, C. Kelly, Francesca Civano

Dartmouth Scholarship

We define a quasar–galaxy mixing diagram using the slopes of their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from 1 μm to 3000 Å and from 1 to 3 μm in the rest frame. The mixing diagram can easily distinguish among quasar-dominated, galaxy-dominated and reddening-dominated SED shapes. By studying the position of the 413 XMM-selected type 1 AGN in the wide-field ‘Cosmic Evolution Survey’ in the mixing diagram, we find that a combination of the Elvis et al. mean quasar SED with various contributions from galaxy emission and some dust reddening is remarkably effective in describing the SED shape from 0.3 to …


1es 1927+654: A Bare Seyfert 2, L. C. Gallo, C. Macmackin, R. Vasudevan, E. M. Cackett, A. C. Fabian, F. Panessa Jul 2013

1es 1927+654: A Bare Seyfert 2, L. C. Gallo, C. Macmackin, R. Vasudevan, E. M. Cackett, A. C. Fabian, F. Panessa

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

1ES 1927+654 is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) tbat appears to defy the unification model. It exhibits a type-2 optical spectrum, but possesses little X-ray obscuration. XMM-Newton and Suzaku observations obtained in 2011 are used to study the X-ray properties of 1ES 1927+654. The spectral energy distribution derived from simultaneous optical-to-X-ray data obtained with XMM-Newton shows that the AGN has a typical Eddington ratio (L/LEdd = 0.014 ··· 0.11). The X-ray spectrum and rapid variability are consistent with originating from a corona surrounding a standard accretion disc. Partial covering models can describe the X-ray data: however, the narrow …


Determining The Location Of The Coronal Line Region Within Local Active Galactic Nuclei Using [Fe Vii] Emission Line Properties, Charles Grant Showley Jun 2013

Determining The Location Of The Coronal Line Region Within Local Active Galactic Nuclei Using [Fe Vii] Emission Line Properties, Charles Grant Showley

Physics

Given a sample of 99 local AGNs, we study the characteristics of the forbidden [Fe VII] coronal line for the purpose of determining the location of the coronal line region (CLR) within the AGN. We calculate the velocity of the clouds emitting [Fe VII] using the width of the [Fe VII] emission lines compared to [O II] emission lines to establish whether the clouds are inflowing or outflowing. We plot the [Fe VII] and [O II] flux ratios against the AGNs' known black hole masses and stellar velocity dispersions in order to see if there are any correlations between them. …


Finding Rare Agn: X-Ray Number Counts Of Chandra Sources In Stripe 82, Stephanie M. Lamassa, C. Megan Urry, Eilat Glikman, Nico Cappelluti, Francesca Civano Jun 2013

Finding Rare Agn: X-Ray Number Counts Of Chandra Sources In Stripe 82, Stephanie M. Lamassa, C. Megan Urry, Eilat Glikman, Nico Cappelluti, Francesca Civano

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present the first results of a wide area X-ray survey within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82, a 300 deg2 region of the sky with a substantial investment in multi-wavelength coverage. We analyzed archival {\it Chandra} observations that cover 7.5 deg2 within Stripe 82 ("Stripe 82 ACX"), reaching 4.5σ flux limits of 7.9×10−16, 3.4×10−15 and 1.8×10−15 erg s−1 cm−2 in the soft (0.5-2 keV), hard (2-7 keV) and full (0.5-7 keV) bands, to find 774, 239 and 1118 X-ray sources, respectively. Three hundred twenty-one sources are detected only in the full band and 9 sources are detected …


Narrow-Line Region Gas Kinematics Of 24 264 Optically Selected Agn: The Radio Connection, J. R. Mullaney, D. M. Alexander, S. Fine, A. D. Goulding, C. M. Harrison, R. C. Hickox May 2013

Narrow-Line Region Gas Kinematics Of 24 264 Optically Selected Agn: The Radio Connection, J. R. Mullaney, D. M. Alexander, S. Fine, A. D. Goulding, C. M. Harrison, R. C. Hickox

Dartmouth Scholarship

Using a sample of 24 264 optically selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the SDSS DR7 data base, we characterize how the profile of the [O iii] λ5007 emission line relates to bolometric luminosity (LAGN), Eddington ratio, radio loudness, radio luminosity (L1.4 GHz) and optical class (i.e. broad/narrow-line Seyfert 1, type 2) to determine what drives the kinematics of this kpc-scale line emitting gas. First, we use spectral stacking to characterize how the average [O iii] λ5007 profile changes as a function of these five variables. After accounting for the known correlation between L …


Modeling The Spectral Energy Distribution Of Mrk 421, Randall L. Oglesby May 2013

Modeling The Spectral Energy Distribution Of Mrk 421, Randall L. Oglesby

Physics

Blazars are astronomical objects thought to be powered by the release of gravitational energy by accretion of material into a supermassive black hole located in the central region of the host galaxy. Some AGN present strong relativistic outflows in the form of jets, with blazars being the particular subset whose jets are aligned with our line of sight. Even though blazars account for only a small fraction of all AGN, they are the dominant class source in the high-energy sky. In this thesis we study the spectral energy distribution of Mrk 421, a prototypical blazar. Using publicly available numerical code …


Discovery Of A Relation Between Black Hole Mass And Soft X-Ray Time Lags In Active Galactic Nuclei, B. De Marco, G. Ponti, M. Cappi, M. Dadina, P. Uttley, E. M. Cackett, A. C. Fabian, G. Miniutti May 2013

Discovery Of A Relation Between Black Hole Mass And Soft X-Ray Time Lags In Active Galactic Nuclei, B. De Marco, G. Ponti, M. Cappi, M. Dadina, P. Uttley, E. M. Cackett, A. C. Fabian, G. Miniutti

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

We carried out a systematic analysis of time lags between X-ray energy bands in a large sample (32 sources) of unabsorbed, radio quiet active galactic nuclei (AGN), observed by XMM-Newton. The analysis of X-ray lags (up to the highest/shortest frequencies/time-scales), is performed in the Fourier-frequency domain, between energy bands where the soft excess (soft band) and the primary power law (hard band) dominate the emission. We report a total of 15 out of 32 sources displaying a high-frequency soft lag in their light curves. All 15 are at a significance level exceeding 97 per cent and 11 are at a …


A Redline Starburst: Co(2-1) Observations Of An Eddington-Limited Galaxy Reveal Star Formation At Its Most Extreme, J. E. Geach, R. C. Hickox, A. M. Diamond-Stanic, M. Krips Apr 2013

A Redline Starburst: Co(2-1) Observations Of An Eddington-Limited Galaxy Reveal Star Formation At Its Most Extreme, J. E. Geach, R. C. Hickox, A. M. Diamond-Stanic, M. Krips

Dartmouth Scholarship

We report observations of the CO(2-1) emission of SDSSJ1506+54, a compact (r_e~135pc) starburst galaxy at z=0.6. SDSSJ1506+54 appears to be forming stars close to the limit allowed by stellar radiation pressure feedback models: the measured L_IR/L'_CO 1500 is one of the highest measured for any galaxy. With its compact optical morphology but extended low surface brightness envelope, post-starburst spectral features, high infrared luminosity (L_IR>10^12.5 L_Sun), low gas fraction (M_H2/M_stars~15%), and short gas depletion time (tens of Myr), we speculate that this is a feedback- limited central starburst episode at the conclusion of a major merger. Taken as such, SDSSJ1504+54 …


The Cluster And Field Galaxy Active Galactic Nucleus Fraction At Z = 1-1.5: Evidence For A Reversal Of The Local Anticorrelation Between Environment And Agn Fraction, Paul Martini, E. D. Miller, M. Brodwin, S. A. Stanford, Anthony H. Gonzalez, M. Bautz, R. C. Hickox Apr 2013

The Cluster And Field Galaxy Active Galactic Nucleus Fraction At Z = 1-1.5: Evidence For A Reversal Of The Local Anticorrelation Between Environment And Agn Fraction, Paul Martini, E. D. Miller, M. Brodwin, S. A. Stanford, Anthony H. Gonzalez, M. Bautz, R. C. Hickox

Dartmouth Scholarship

The fraction of cluster galaxies that host luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is an important probe of AGN fueling processes, the cold interstellar medium at the centers of galaxies, and how tightly black holes and galaxies co-evolve. We present a new measurement of the AGN fraction in a sample of 13 clusters of galaxies (M >= 1014 M ) at 1 < z < 1.5 selected from the Spitzer/IRAC Shallow Cluster Survey, as well as the field fraction in the immediate vicinity of these clusters, and combine these data with measurements from the literature to quantify the relative evolution of cluster and field AGN from the present to z ~ 3. We estimate that the cluster AGN fraction at 1 < z < 1.5 is f_A = 3.0^{+2.4}_{-1.4}% for AGNs with a rest-frame, hard X-ray luminosity greater than L X, H >= 1044 erg s-1. This fraction is measured relative to all cluster galaxies more luminous than M^*_{3.6}(z) + 1, where M^*_{3.6}(z) is the absolute magnitude of the break in the galaxy luminosity …


Confirmation Of The Nature Of The Absorber In Iras 09104+4109, Chia-Ying Chiang, E. M. Cackett, P. Gandhi, A. C. Fabian Apr 2013

Confirmation Of The Nature Of The Absorber In Iras 09104+4109, Chia-Ying Chiang, E. M. Cackett, P. Gandhi, A. C. Fabian

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

We present the first long Suzaku observation of the hyperluminous infrared galaxy IRAS 09104+4109 which is dominated by a Type 2 AGN. The infrared to X-ray spectral energy distribution (SED) indicates that the source is an obscured quasar with a Compton-thin absorber. However, the 3σ hard X-ray detection of the source with the BeppoSAX PDS suggested a reflection-dominated, Compton-thick view. The high-energy detection was later found to be possibly contaminated by another Type 2 AGN, NGC 2785, which is only 17 arcmin away. Our new Suzaku observation offers simultaneous soft and hard X-ray coverage and excludes contamination from NGC 2785. …


Revealing The X-Ray Source In Iras 13224-3809 Through Flux-Dependent Reverberation Lags, E. Kara, A. C. Fabian, E. M. Cackett, G. Miniutti, P. Uttley Apr 2013

Revealing The X-Ray Source In Iras 13224-3809 Through Flux-Dependent Reverberation Lags, E. Kara, A. C. Fabian, E. M. Cackett, G. Miniutti, P. Uttley

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

IRAS 13224-3809 was observed in 2011 for 500 ks with the XMM-Newton observatory. We detect highly significant X-ray lags between soft (0.3-1 keV) and hard (1.2-5 keV) energies. The hard band lags the soft at low frequencies (i.e. hard lag), while the opposite (i.e. soft lag) is observed at high frequencies. In this paper, we study the lag during flaring and quiescent periods. We find that the frequency and absolute amplitude of the soft lag are different during high-flux and low-flux periods. During the low-flux intervals, the soft lag is detected at higher frequencies and with smaller amplitude. Assuming that …


Discovery Of Fe Kα X-Ray Reverberation Around The Black Holes In Mcg-5-23-16 And Ngc 7314, A. Zoghbi, C. Reynolds, E. M. Cackett, G. Miniutti, E. Kara, A. C. Fabian Apr 2013

Discovery Of Fe Kα X-Ray Reverberation Around The Black Holes In Mcg-5-23-16 And Ngc 7314, A. Zoghbi, C. Reynolds, E. M. Cackett, G. Miniutti, E. Kara, A. C. Fabian

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

Several X-ray observations have recently revealed the presence of reverberation time delays between spectral components in active galactic nuclei. Most of the observed lags are between the power-law Comptonization component, seen directly, and the soft excess produced by reflection in the vicinity of the black hole. NGC 4151 was the first object to show these lags in the iron K band. Here, we report the discovery of reverberation lags in the Fe K band in two other sources: MCG-5-23-16 and NGC 7314. In both objects, the 6-7 keV band, where the Fe Kα line peaks, lags the bands at lower …


The Radio And Optical Luminosity Evolution Of Quasars Ii -- The Sdss Sample, Jack Singal, V. Petrosian, L. Stawarz, A. Lawrence Feb 2013

The Radio And Optical Luminosity Evolution Of Quasars Ii -- The Sdss Sample, Jack Singal, V. Petrosian, L. Stawarz, A. Lawrence

Physics Faculty Publications

We determine the radio and optical luminosity evolutions and the true distribution of the radio-loudness parameter R, defined as the ratio of the radio to optical luminosity, for a set of more than 5000 quasars combining Sloan Digital Sky Survey optical and Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty cm (FIRST) radio data. We apply the method of Efron and Petrosian to access the intrinsic distribution parameters, taking into account the truncations and correlations inherent in the data. We find that the population exhibits strong positive evolution with redshift in both wavebands, with somewhat greater radio evolution than optical. …


A Soft X-Ray Reverberation Lag In The Agn Eso 113-G010, E. M. Cackett, A. C. Fabian, A. Zogbhi, E. Kara, C. Reynolds, P. Uttley Feb 2013

A Soft X-Ray Reverberation Lag In The Agn Eso 113-G010, E. M. Cackett, A. C. Fabian, A. Zogbhi, E. Kara, C. Reynolds, P. Uttley

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

Reverberation lags have recently been discovered in a handful of nearby, variable active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Here, we analyze a ~100 ks archival XMM-Newton observation of the highly variable AGN, ESO 113-G010, in order to search for lags between hard, 1.5-4.5 keV, and soft, 0.3-0.9 keV, energy X-ray bands. At the lowest frequencies available in the light curve (lsim 1.5 × 10-4 Hz), we find hard lags where the power-law-dominated hard band lags the soft band (where the reflection fraction is high). However, at higher frequencies in the range (2-3) × 10-4 Hz we find a soft lag …


Evidence Of Light-Bending Effects And Its Implication For Spectral State Transitions, R. C. Reis, J. M. Miller, M. T. Reynolds, A. C. Fabian, D. J. Walton, E. Cackett, J. F. Steiner Jan 2013

Evidence Of Light-Bending Effects And Its Implication For Spectral State Transitions, R. C. Reis, J. M. Miller, M. T. Reynolds, A. C. Fabian, D. J. Walton, E. Cackett, J. F. Steiner

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

It has long been speculated that the nature of the hard X-ray corona may be an important second driver of black hole state transitions, in addition to the mass accretion rate through the disk. However, a clear physical picture of coronal changes has not yet emerged. We present results from a systematic analysis of Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer observations of the stellar-mass black hole binary XTE J1650-500. All spectra with significant hard X-ray detections were fit using a self-consistent, relativistically blurred disk reflection model suited to high ionization regimes. Importantly, we find evidence that both the spectral and timing properties …


Regulation Of Black Hole Winds And Jets Across The Mass Scale, A. L. King, J. M. Miller, J. Raymond, A. C. Fabian, C. S. Reynolds, K. Gültekin, E. M. Cackett, S. W. Allen, D. Proga, T. R. Kallman Jan 2013

Regulation Of Black Hole Winds And Jets Across The Mass Scale, A. L. King, J. M. Miller, J. Raymond, A. C. Fabian, C. S. Reynolds, K. Gültekin, E. M. Cackett, S. W. Allen, D. Proga, T. R. Kallman

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

We present a study of the mechanical power generated by both winds and jets across the black hole mass scale. We begin with the study of ionized X-ray winds and present a uniform analysis using Chandra grating spectra. The high-quality grating spectra facilitate the characterization of the outflow velocity, ionization, and column density of the absorbing gas. We find that the kinetic power of the winds, derived from these observed quantities, scales with increasing bolometric luminosity as log (L wind, 42/Cv ) = (1.58 ± 0.07)log (L Bol, 42) - (3.19 ± 0.19). This suggests that supermassive …