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 ver
y 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 continuum and Hbeta and He II 4686 line light curves and those from archival UV data for different time-series analysis methods to yield consistent results.
It has been recently proposed that the broad line region in active galactic nuclei originates from dusty clouds driven from the accretion disk by radiation pressure, at a distance from the black hole where the disk is cooler than the dust sublimation
temperature. We test this scenario by checking the consistency of independent broad line region and accretion disk reverberation measurements, for a sample of 11 well studied active galactic nuclei. We show that independent disk and broad line region reverberation mapping measurements are compatible with a universal disk temperature at the H{beta} radius of T[R(H{beta})]=1670(231) K which is close to typical dust sublimation temperatures.
Keplers quest for other Earths need not end just yet: it remains capable of characterizing cool Earth-mass planets by microlensing, even given its degraded pointing control. If Kepler were pointed at the Galactic bulge, it could conduct a search for
microlensing planets that would be virtually non-overlapping with ground-based surveys. More important, by combining Kepler observations with current ground-based surveys, one could measure the microlens parallax pi_E for a large fraction of the known microlensing events. Such parallax measurements would yield mass and distance determinations for the great majority of microlensing planets, enabling much more precise study of the planet distributions as functions of planet and host mass, planet-host separation, and Galactic position (particularly bulge vs. disk). In addition, rare systems (such as planets orbiting brown dwarfs or black holes) that are presently lost in the noise would be clearly identified. In contrast to Keplers current primary hunting ground of close-in planets, its microlensing planets would be in the cool outer parts of solar systems, generally beyond the snow line. The same survey would yield a spectacular catalog of brown-dwarf binaries, probe the stellar mass function in a unique way, and still have plenty of time available for asteroseismology targets.
We present here observational evidence that the snowline plays a significant role in the formation and evolution of gas giant planets. When considering the population of observed exoplanets, we find a boundary in mass-semimajor axis space that sugges
ts planets are preferentially found beyond the snowline prior to undergoing gap-opening inward migration and associated gas accretion. This is consistent with theoretical models suggesting that sudden changes in opacity -- as would occur at the snowline -- can influence core migration. Furthermore, population synthesis modelling suggests that this boundary implies that gas giant planets accrete ~ 70 % of the inward flowing gas, allowing ~ 30$ % through to the inner disc. This is qualitatively consistent with observations of transition discs suggesting the presence of inner holes, despite there being ongoing gas accretion.
Aims. Current and upcoming space missions may be able to detect moons of transiting extra-solar planets. In this context it is important to understand if exomoons are expected to exist and what their possible properties are. Methods. Using estimates
for the stability of exomoon orbits from numerical studies, a list of 87 known transiting exoplanets is tested for the potential to host large exomoons. Results. For 92% of the sample, moons larger than Luna can be excluded on prograde orbits, unless the parent exoplanets internal structure is very different from the gas-giants of the solar system. Only WASP-24b, OGLE2-TR-L9, CoRoT-3b and CoRoT-9b could have moons above 0.4 moplus, which is within the likely detection capabilities of current observational facilities. Additionally, the range of possible orbital radii of exomoons of the known transiting exoplanets, with two exceptions, is below 8 Jupiter-radii and therefore rather small.
We present velocity-delay maps for optical H I, He I, and He II recombination lines in Arp 151, recovered by fitting a reverberation model to spectrophotometric monitoring data using the maximum-entropy method. H I response is detected over the range
0-15 days, with the response confined within the virial envelope. The Balmer-line maps have similar morphologies but exhibit radial stratification, with progressively longer delays for Hgamma to Hbeta to Halpha. The He I and He II response is confined within 1-2 days. There is a deficit of prompt response in the Balmer-line cores but strong prompt response in the red wings. Comparison with simple models identifies two classes that reproduce these features: freefalling gas, and a half-illuminated disk with a hotspot at small radius on the receding lune. Symmetrically illuminated models with gas orbiting in an inclined disk or an isotropic distribution of randomly inclined circular orbits can reproduce the virial structure but not the observed asymmetry. Radial outflows are also largely ruled out by the observed asymmetry. A warped-disk geometry provides a physically plausible mechanism for the asymmetric illumination and hotspot features. Simple estimates show that a disk in the broad-line region of Arp 151 could be unstable to warping induced by radiation pressure. Our results demonstrate the potential power of detailed modeling combined with monitoring campaigns at higher cadence to characterize the gas kinematics and physical processes that give rise to the broad emission lines in active galactic nuclei.
OGLE III and MOA II are discovering 600-1000 Galactic Bulge microlens events each year. This stretches the resources available for intensive follow-up monitoring of the lightcurves in search of anomalies caused by planets near the lens stars. We advo
cate optimizing microlens planet searches by using an automatic prioritization algorithm based on the planet detection zone area probed by each new data point. This optimization scheme takes account of the telescope and detector characteristics, observing overheads, sky conditions, and the time available for observing on each night. The predicted brightness and magnification of each microlens target is estimated by fitting to available data points. The optimisation scheme then yields a decision on which targets to observe and which to skip, and a recommended exposure time for each target, designed to maximize the planet detection capability of the observations. The optimal strategy maximizes detection of planet anomalies, and must be coupled with rapid data reduction to trigger continuous follow-up of anomalies that are thereby found. A web interface makes the scheme available for use by human or robotic observers at any telescope. We also outline a possible self-organising scheme that may be suitable for coordination of microlens observations by a heterogeneous telescope network.
