No Arabic abstract
The spectra of active galactic nuclei usually exhibit wings in some emission lines, such as [OIII]$lambdalambda$5007,4959, with these wings generally being blueshifted and related to strong winds and outflows. The aim of this work was to analyse the [OIII] emission lines in broad line Seyfert 1 (BLS1) galaxies in order to detect the presence of wings, and to study the [OIII] line properties and their possible connection with the central engine. In addition, we attempted to compare the black hole mass distribution in both BLS1 galaxies with symmetric and blue-asymmetric [OIII] profiles. For this purpose, we carried out a spectroscopic study of a sample of 45 nearby southern BLS1 galaxies from the 6 Degree Field Galaxy survey. The [OIII] emission lines were well fitted using a single Gaussian function in 23 galaxies, while 22 objects presented a wing component and required a double-Gaussian decomposition. By computing the radial velocity difference between the wing and core centroids (i.e. $Delta$v), we found 18 galaxies exhibiting blueshifted wings, 2 objects presenting red wings and 2 galaxies showing symmetric wings ($Delta$v$= 0$). Moreover, $Delta$v was slightly correlated with the black hole mass. In addition, we computed the radial velocity difference of the blue-side full extension of the wing relative to the centroid of the core component through the emph{blue emission} parameter, which revealed a correlation with black hole mass, in agreement with previous results reported for narrow line galaxies. Finally, in our sample, similar black hole mass distributions were observed in both BLS1 galaxies with symmetric and blueshifted asymmetric [OIII] profiles.
We have studied the properties of Seyfert galaxies with high [OIII]5007 blueshifts (`blue outliers), originally identified because of their strong deviation from the M_BH - sigma relation of normal, narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) and broad-line Seyfert 1 (BLS1) galaxies. These blue outliers turn out to be important test-beds for models of the narrow-line region (NLR), for mechanisms of driving large-scale outflows, for links between NLS1 galaxies and radio galaxies, and for orientation-dependent NLS1 models. We report the detection of a strong correlation of line blueshift with ionization potential in each galaxy, including the measurement of coronal lines with radial velocities up to 500--1000 km/s. All [OIII] blue outliers have narrow widths of their broad Balmer lines and high Eddington ratios. While the presence of non-shifted low-ionization lines signifies the presence of a classical outer quiescent NLR in blue outliers, we also report the absence of any second, non-blueshifted [OIII] component from a classical inner NLR. These results place tight constraints on NLR models. We favor a scenario in which the NLR clouds are entrained in a decelerating wind which explains the strong stratification and the absence of a zero-blueshift inner NLR of blue outliers. The origin of the wind remains speculative at this time (collimated radio plasma, thermal winds, radiatively accelerated clouds). It is perhaps linked to the high Eddington ratios of blue outliers. Similar, less powerful winds could be present in all Seyfert galaxies, but would generally only affect the coronal line region (CLR), or level off even before reaching the CLR. Similarities between blue outliers in NLS1 galaxies and (compact) radio sources are briefly discussed.
To understand how strong emission line galaxies (ELGs) contribute to the overall growth of galaxies and star formation history of the universe, we target Strong ELGs (SELGs) from the ZFOURGE imaging survey that have blended (Hb+[OIII]) rest-frame equivalent widths of >230A and 2.5<zphot<4.0. Using Keck/MOSFIRE, we measure 49 redshifts for galaxies brighter than Ks=25 mag as part of our Multi-Object Spectroscopic Emission Line (MOSEL) survey. Our spectroscopic success rate is ~53% and zphot uncertainty is sigma_z= [Delta(z)/(1+z)]=0.0135. We confirm 31 ELGs at 3<zspec<3.8 and show that Strong ELGs have spectroscopic rest-frame [OIII]5007A equivalent widths of 100-500A and tend to be lower mass systems [log(Mstar/Msun)~8.2-9.6] compared to more typical star-forming galaxies. The Strong ELGs lie ~0.9 dex above the star-forming main-sequence at z~3.5 and have high inferred gas fractions of fgas~>60%, i.e. the inferred gas masses can easily fuel a starburst to double stellar masses within ~10-100 Myr. Combined with recent results using ZFOURGE, our analysis indicates that 1) strong [OIII]5007A emission signals an early episode of intense stellar growth in low mass (Mstar<0.1M*) galaxies and 2) many, if not most, galaxies at z>3 go through this starburst phase. If true, low-mass galaxies with strong [OIII]5007A emission (EW_rest>200A) may be an increasingly important source of ionizing UV radiation at z>3.
We perform SED fitting analysis on a COSMOS sample covering UV-to-FIR wavelengths with emission lines from the FMOS survey. The sample of 182 objects with H$alpha$ and [OIII]$lambda5007$ emission spans over a range of $1.40<rm{z}<1.68$. We obtain robust estimates of stellar mass ($10^{9.5}-10^{11.5}~rm{M_odot}$) and SFR ($10^1-10^3~rm{M_odot}~rm{yr}^{-1}$) from the Bayesian analysis with CIGALE fitting continuum photometry and H$alpha$. We obtain a median attenuation of A$_rm{Halpha}=1.16pm0.19$ mag and A$_rm{[OIII]}=1.41pm0.22$ mag. H$alpha$ and [OIII]$lambda5007$ attenuations are found to increase with stellar mass, confirming previous findings. A difference of $57$% in the attenuation experienced by emission lines and continuum is found in agreement with the lines being more attenuated than the continuum. New CLOUDY HII-region models in CIGALE enable good fits of H$alpha$, H$beta$, [OIII]$lambda5007$ emission lines with differences smaller than $0.2$ dex. Fitting [NII]$lambda6584$ line is challenging due to well-known discrepancies in the locus of galaxies in the BPT diagram at intermediate redshifts. We find a positive correlation for SFR and dust-corrected L$_rm{[OIII]lambda5007}$ and we derive the linear relation $log_{10}rm{(SFR/rm{M}_odot~rm{yr}^{-1})}=log_{10} (rm{L}_{[rm{OIII]}}/rm{ergs~s^{-1}})-(41.20pm0.02)$. Leaving the slope as a free parameter leads to $log_{10}rm{(SFR/rm{M}_odot~rm{yr}^{-1})}=(0.83pm0.06)log_{10}(rm{L}_{[rm{OIII]}}/rm{ergs~s^{-1}})-(34.01pm2.63)$. Gas-phase metallicity and ionization parameter variations account for a $0.24$ dex and $1.1$ dex of the dispersion, respectively. An average value of $logrm{U}approx-2.85$ is measured for this sample. Including HII-region models to fit simultaneously photometry and emission line fluxes are paramount to analyze future data from surveys such as MOONS and PFS.
Thanks to the execution of extensive spectroscopic surveys that have covered large fractions of the sky down to magnitudes as faint as $i approx 19$, it has been possible to identify several narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) and to investigate their properties over a large range of the electro-magnetic spectrum. The interpretation of their nature, however, is still hampered by the statistical uncertainties related to the way in which NLS1 candidates are selected. In this contribution, we present a study to detect and to model emission lines in optical spectra extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), adopting the most proper strategy to identify the source of line excitation and to produce a detailed model with measurements of several emission-line parameters. We demonstrate the application of this technique to explore fundamental questions, such as the presence of gas and dust around the core of AGNs and the spectral energy distribution of their ionizing radiation. We compare the spectral properties of NLS1s with those of other type 1 active galaxies and we summarize the potential of this approach to identify NLS1s in present day and future spectroscopic surveys. We finally consider the implications of multi-frequency data analysis in the debate concerning the intrinsic nature of NLS1s.
We use homogeneous samples of radio-quiet Seyfert 1 galaxies and QSOs selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to investigate the connection between the velocity shift and the equivalent width (EW) of the [OIII] 5007 emission line, and their correlations with physical parameters of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We find a significant and negative correlation between the EW of the core component, EW(core), and the blueshift of either the core (the peak), the wing, or the total profile of [OIII] emission; it is fairly strong for the blueshift of the total profile particularly. However, both quantities (EW and velocity shift) generally have only weak, if any, correlations with fundamental AGN parameters such as the nuclear continuum luminosity at 5100 L_{5100}, black hole mass (M_{BH}), and the Eddington ratio (L/L_{Edd}); these correlations include the classical Baldwin effect of EW(core), an inverse Baldwin effect of EW(wing), and the relationship between velocity shifts and lratio. Our findings suggest that both the large object-to-object variation in the strength of [OIII] emission and the blueshift--EW(core) connection are not governed primarily by fundamental AGN parameters such as L_{5100}, M_{BH} and L/L_{Edd}. We propose that the ISM conditions of the host galaxies play a major role instead in the diversity of the [OIII] properties in active galaxies. This suggests that the use of[OIII] 5007 luminosity as proxy of AGN luminosity does not depend strongly on the above-mentioned fundamental AGN parameters.