Spectropolarimetric monitoring of active galaxy 3C390.3 with 6m telescope SAO RAS in the period 2009-2014

Here we present the spectropolarimetric observations of the radio loud active galaxy 3C 390.3 in the period 2009-2014 (24 epochs). The galaxy has been observed with the 6-meter telescope of SAO RAS using the SCORPIO spectropolarimeter. We explore the variability and lags in the polarized light of the continuum and broad H$alpha$ line. We give the Stokes parameters $Q, U$, degree of linear polarization $P$ and the position angle of the polarization plane, $varphi$, for 24 epochs. We find a small lag~(10-40 days) between the unpolarized and polarized continuum that is significantly smaller than the estimated lags for the unpolarized broad emission lines (lag(H$alpha$)$sim$138-186 and lag(H$beta$)$sim$60-79 days). This shows that the region of the variable polarized continuum is significantly smaller than the broad line region, indicating that a part of the polarized continuum is coming from the jet. The lag of the polarized light in the H$alpha$ line (89-156 days) indicates an additional component to the disc one that has an outflowing velocity of $sim$-1200 km s$^{-1}$. This region seems to depolarize the polarized broad H$alpha$ line emitted from the disc and scattered in the inner part of the torus.

Spectral optical monitoring of the double peaked emission line AGN Arp 102B: II. Variability of the broad line properties

We investigate a long-term (26 years, from 1987 to 2013) variability in the broad spectral line properties of the radio galaxy Arp 102B, an active galaxy with broad double-peaked emission lines. We use observations presented in Paper I (Shapovalova et al. 2013) in the period from 1987 to 2011, and a new set of observations performed in 2012--2013. To explore the BLR geometry, and clarify some contradictions about the nature of the BLR in Arp 102B we explore variations in the H$alpha$ and H$beta$ line parameters during the monitored period. We fit the broad lines with three broad Gaussian functions finding the positions and intensities of the blue and red peaks in H$alpha$ and H$beta$. Additionally we fit averaged line profiles with the disc model. We find that the broad line profiles are double-peaked and have not been changed significantly in shapes, beside an additional small peak that, from time to time can be seen in the blue part of the H$alpha$ line. The positions of the blue and red peaks { have not changed significantly during the monitored period. The H$beta$ line is broader than H$alpha$ line in the monitored period. The disc model is able to reproduce the H$beta$ and H$alpha$ broad line profiles, however, observed variability in the line parameters are not in a good agreement with the emission disc hypothesis. It seems that the BLR of Arp 102B has a disc-like geometry, but the role of an outflow can also play an important role in observed variation of the broad line properties.

Variability in Spectropolarimetric properties of Sy 1.5 galaxy Mrk 6

Here we present an analysis of spectro-polarimetric observations of type 1.5 AGN Mrk 6, performed with 6m telescope SAO RAN in 12 epochs (2010 -- 2013). Additionally, the inter-stellar mater (ISM) polarization has been observed and its contribution to the AGN spectral polarization is taken into account. We measured Stokes parameters and determined the polarization parameters in 12 spectra with and without correction for the ISM polarization. We estimated the time lag between the unpolarized and polarized continuum flux variation of about ~2 days, that indicates a compact scattering region which contributes to the polarized continuum variability. The polarization in H{alpha} is complex, showing three prominent components in the BLR, one redshifted around +3000 km/s that corresponds to the red shoulder in H{alpha}, and two blue-shifted around -2000 km/s and -6000 km/s. We found that the ISM polarization has a very significant influence on the measured AGN polarization parameters. After correcting the observations for the ISM polarization we were able to detect the Keplerian motion in the BLR. We give a new method for the black hole mass estimation using spectro-polarimetric observation in the line profile, finding the black hole mass in Mrk 6 of $M_{BH} sim 1.53 cdot 10^8 M_{odot}$, that is in a good agreement with reverberation estimates.

Spectral optical monitoring of a double-peaked emission line AGN Arp 102B: I. Variability of spectral lines and continuum

Here we present results of the long-term (1987-2010) optical spectral monitoring of the broad line radio galaxy Arp 102B, a prototype of active galactic nuclei with the double-peaked broad emission lines, usually assumed to be emitted from an accretion disk. To explore the structure of the broad line region (BLR), we analyze the light curves of the broad Halpha and Hbeta lines and the continuum flux. We aim to estimate the dimensions of the broad-line emitting regions and the mass of the central black hole. We use the CCF to find lags between the lines and continuum variations. We investigate in more details the correlation between line and continuum fluxes, moreover we explore periodical variations of the red-to-blue line flux ratio using Lomb-Scargle periodograms. The line and continuum light curves show several flare-like events. The fluxes in lines and in the continuum are not showing a big change (around 20%) during the monitoring period. We found a small correlation between the line and continuum flux variation, that may indicate that variation in lines has weak connection with the variation of the central photoionization source. In spite of a low line-continuum correlation, using several methods, we estimated a time lag for Hbeta around 20 days. The correlation between the Hbeta and Halpha flux variation is significantly higher than between lines and continuum. During the monitoring period, the Hbeta and Halpha lines show double-peaked profiles and we found an indication for a periodical oscillation in the red-to-blue flux ratio of the Halpha line. The estimated mass of the central black hole is sim 1.1 times 10^8 Modot that is in an agreement with the mass estimated from the M-sigma* relation.

Spectral Optical Monitoring of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy Ark 564

We present the results of a long-term (1999--2010) spectral optical monitoring campaign of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) Ark 564, which shows a strong Fe II line emission in the optical. This AGN is a narrow line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies, a group of AGNs with specific spectral characteristics. We analyze the light curves of the permitted Ha, Hb, optical Fe II line fluxes, and the continuum flux in order to search for a time lag between them. Additionally, in order to estimate the contribution of iron lines from different multiplets, we fit the Hb and Fe II lines with a sum of Gaussian components. We found that during the monitoring period the spectral variation (F_max/F_min) of Ark 564 was between 1.5 for Ha to 1.8 for the Fe II lines. The correlation between the Fe II and Hb flux variations is of higher significance than that of Ha and Hb (whose correlation is almost absent). The permitted-line profiles are Lorentzian-like, and did not change shape during the monitoring period. We investigated, in detail, the optical Fe II emission and found different degrees of correlation between the Fe II emission arising from different spectral multiplets and the continuum flux. The relatively weak and different degrees of correlations between permitted lines and continuum fluxes indicate a rather complex source of ionization of the broad line emission region.