As a radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy (NLS1) detected by Fermi/LAT in GeV $gamma$-rays, 1H 0323+342 is a remarkable Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) showing properties characteristic of both NLS1s and blazars. Here we present results of simultane
ous X-ray and UV/optical monitoring observations on 1H 0323+342 taken with the UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) and X-ray Telescope (XRT) onboard the Swift satellite over six years from 2006. Overall, the object showed statistically correlated variations in both the UV and X-ray bands on timescales of years as well as on timescales of days. A deep Suzaku observation reveals X-ray variability on timescales as short as a few tens of thousand seconds, and an X-ray spectrum typical of Seyfert galaxies. The broad-band spectral energy distribution, for which the data of UV and X-ray observations taken on 2009 July 26-27 were used, can be well modeled with a simple one-zone leptonic jet model plus accretion disk/corona emission. The latter is predominantly responsible for the UV/optical and X-ray (0.3-10 keV) emission and their observed variations. The correlated UV-X-ray variability on the timescale of days is consistent with reprocessing of the X-ray radiation by the accretion disk. The shortest timescale and large normalized excess variance of the X-ray variability detected with Suzaku suggest a relatively small black hole mass of the order of $10^7M_{odot}$, consistent with the estimation based on the broad H$beta$ line in the optical.
Swift has initiated a new era of understanding the extremes of active galactic nuclei (AGN) variability, their drivers and underlying physics. This is based on its rapid response, high sensitivity, good spatial resolution, and its ability to collect
simultaneously X--ray-to-optical SEDs. Here, we present results from our recent monitoring campaigns with Swift of highly variable AGN, including outbursts, deep low states, and unusual long-term trends in several Seyfert galaxies including Mrk 335, WPVS007, and RXJ2314.9+2243. We also report detection of a new X-ray and optical outburst of IC 3599 and our Swift follow-ups. IC 3599 was previously known as one of the AGN with the highest-amplitude outbursts. We briefly discuss implications of this second outburst of IC 3599 for emission scenarios including accretion-disk variability, repeat tidal disruption events, and the presence of a binary supermassive black hole.
We report on multi-wavelength observations of the X-ray transient Narrow Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy WPVS 007. The galaxy was monitored with Swift between October 2005 and July 2013, after it had undergone a dramatic drop in its X-ray flux earlier.
For the first time, we are able to repeatedly detect this NLS1 in X-rays again. This increased number of detections in the last couple of years may suggest that the strong absorber that has been found in this AGN is starting to become leaky, and may eventually disappear. The X-ray spectra obtained for WPVS 007 are all consistent with a partial covering absorber model. A spectrum based on the data during the extreme low X-ray flux states shows that the absorption column density is of the order of 4 x 10^23 cm^-2 with a covering fraction of 95%. WPVS 007 also displays one of the strongest UV variabilities seen in Narrow Line Seyfert 1s. The UV continuum variability anti-correlates with the optical/UV slope alpha-UV which suggests that the variability primarily may be due to reddening. The UV variability time scales are consistent with moving dust `clouds located beyond the dust sublimation radius of approximately 20 ld. We present for the first time near infrared JHK data of WPVS 007, which reveal a rich emission-line spectrum. Recent optical spectroscopy does not indicate significant variability in the broad and FeII emission lines, implying that the ionizing continuum seen by those gas clouds has not significantly changed over the last decades. All X-ray and UV observations are consistent with a scenario in which an evolving Broad Absorption Line (BAL) flow obscures the continuum emission. As such, WPVS 007 is an important target for our understanding of BAL flows in low-mass active galactic nuclei (AGN).
We present adaptive optics-assisted J- and K-band integral field spectroscopy of the inner 300 x 300 pc of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC1068. The data were obtained with the Gemini NIFS integral field unit spectrometer, which provided us with high-spatial
and -spectral resolution sampling. The wavelength range covered by the observations allowed us to study the [CaVIII], [SiVI], [SiVII], [AlIX] and [SIX] coronal-line (CL) emission, covering ionization potentials up to 328 eV. The observations reveal very rich and complex structures, both in terms of velocity fields and emission-line ratios. The CL emission is elongated along the NE-SW direction, with the stronger emission preferentially localized to the NE of the nucleus. CLs are emitted by gas covering a wide range of velocities, with maximum blueshifts/redshifts of ~ -1600/1000 km/s. There is a trend for the gas located on the NE side of the nucleus to be blueshifted while the gas located towards the SW is redshifted. The morphology and the kinematics of the near-infrared CLs are in very good agreement with the ones displayed by low-ionization lines and optical CLs, suggesting a common origin. The line flux distributions, velocity maps, ionization structure (traced by the [SiVII]/[SiVI] emission-line ratio) and low ionization emission-line ratios (i.e., [FeII]/Pabeta and [FeII]/[PII]) suggest that the radio jet plays an important role in the structure of the coronal line region of this object, and possibly in its kinematics.
We report Swift observations of a sample of 92 bright soft X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN). This sample represents the largest number of AGN observed to study the spectral energy distribution (SED) of AGN with simultaneous optical/UV and
X-ray data. The principal motivation of this study is to understand the SEDs of AGN in the optical/UV to X-ray regime and to provide bolometric corrections which are important in determining the Eddington ratio L/Ledd. In particular, we rigorously explore the dependence of the UV-EUV contribution to the bolometric correction on the assumed EUV spectral shape. We find strong correlations of the spectral slopes alpha-x and alpha-UV with L/Ledd. Although Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) have steeper alpha-x and higher L/Ledd than Broad-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (BLS1s), their optical/UV to X-ray spectral slopes alpha-ox and optical/UV slopes alpha-UV are very similar. The mean SED of NLS1s shows that in general this type of AGN appears to be fainter in the UV and at hard X-ray energies than BLS1s. We find a strong correlation between alpha-x and alpha-UV for AGN with X-ray spectral slopes alpha-x<1.6. For AGN with steeper X-ray spectra, both this relation and the relation between alpha-x and L/Ledd break down. At alpha-x$approx$1.6, L/Ledd reaches unity. We note an offset in the alpha-UV - L/Ledd relation between NLS1s and BLS1s. We argue that alpha-UV is a good estimator of L/Ledd and suggest that alpha-UV can be used to estimate L/Ledd in high-redshift QSOs. Although NLS1s appear to be highly variable in X-rays they only vary marginally in the UV.
We study the extended nuclear emission of the starburst galaxy NGC 1365. A weak obscured AGN and a strong starburst both contribute to the observed X-ray, optical, infrared, and radio emission in the inner 2kpc. The X-ray emission is spatially resolv
ed, allowing comparison with multiwavelength data that highlights the structures dominating the nuclear region: the AGN, the nuclear spiral, the circumnuclear starburst ring, and nuclear outflow. The ultrasoft X-ray emission below 0.5keV is spatially coincident with the conical outflow traced by higher excitation optical emission lines like [O III] and [Ne III]. The strong starburst concentrated in super-star clusters in a circumnuclear ring with radius ~1kpc dominates the 0.5-1.5keV emission and is visible in radio, molecular CO, and infrared maps of the central kiloparsec. The hard (2-10keV) emission is dominated by the obscured AGN, but also contributes to the emission from relatively old (~7Myr) but still enshrouded in dust and extremely massive (10^7Msun) super-star clusters (Galliano 2008), hidden from view in the optical and soft X-ray bands. In the Appendix we present the X-ray spectroscopy and photometry of BL Lac MS 0331.3-3629, a high-energy peaked BL Lac candidate at z=0.308, serendipitously detected in one Chandra and five XMM-Newton observations of NGC1365.
The galaxy SDSSJ0952+2143 showed remarkable emission-line properties first reported in 2008 (paper I), which are the consequence of a powerful high-energy flare. Here we report follow-up observations of SDSSJ0952+2143, and discuss outburst scenarios
in terms of stellar tidal disruption by a SMBH, peculiar variability of an AGN, and a supernova explosion. The optical spectrum of SDSSJ0952+2143 exhibits several peculiarities: an exceptional ratio of [FeVII] transitions over [OIII], a dramatic decrease by a factor of 10 of the highest-ionization lines, a very unusual and variable Balmer line profile including a triple-peaked narrow component with two unresolved horns, and a large Balmer decrement. The MIR emission measured with the Spitzer IRS in the narrow 10-20mu band is extraordinarily luminous (3.5 x 10^{43} ergs). The IRS spectrum shows a bump around ~11mu and an increase towards longer wavelengths, reminiscent of silicate emission. The strong MIR excess over the NIR implies the dominance of relatively cold dust. The X-ray luminosity of 10^{41} ergs measured with Chandra is below that typically observed in AGN. Similarities of SDSSJ0952+2143 with some extreme supernovae suggest the explosion of a supernova of Type IIn. However, an extreme accretion event in a low-luminosity AGN or inactive galaxy, especially stellar tidal disruption, remain possibilities, which could potentially produce a very similar emission-line response. If indeed a supernova, SDSSJ0952+2143 is one of the most distant X-ray and MIR detected SNe known so far, the most MIR luminous, and one of the most X-ray luminous. It is also by far the most luminous (>10^{40} ergs) in high-ionization coronal lines, exceeding previous SNe by at least a factor of 100 [abridged].
We consider the consequences of gravitational wave recoil for unified models of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Spatial oscillations of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) around the cores of galaxies following gravitational wave (GW) recoil imply that t
he SMBHs spend a significant fraction of time off-nucleus, at scales beyond that of the molecular obscuring torus. Assuming reasonable distributions of recoil velocities, we compute the off-core timescale of (intrinsically type-2) quasars. We find that roughly one-half of major mergers result in a SMBH being displaced beyond the torus for a time of 30 Myr or more, comparable to quasar activity timescales. Since major mergers are most strongly affected by GW recoil, our results imply a deficiency of type 2 quasars in comparison to Seyfert 2 galaxies. Other consequences of the recoil oscillations for the observable properties of AGNs are also discussed.
It has been demonstrated that active galactic nuclei are powered by gas accretion onto supermassive black holes located at their centres. The paradigm that the nuclei of inactive galaxies are also occupied by black holes was predicted long ago by the
ory. In the last decade, this conjecture was confirmed by the discovery of giant-amplitude, non-recurrent X-ray flares from such inactive galaxies and explained in terms of outburst radiation from stars tidally disrupted by a dormant supermassive black hole at the nuclei of those galaxies. Due to the scarcity of detected tidal disruption events, the confirmation and follow-up of each new candidate is needed to strengthen the theory through observational data, as well as to shed new light on the characteristics of this type of events. Two tidal disruption candidates have been detected with XMM-Newton during slew observations. Optical and X-ray follow-up, post-outburst observations were performed on these highly variable objects in order to further study their classification and temporal evolution. We show that the detected low-state X-ray emission for these two candidates has properties such that it must still be related to the flare. The X-ray luminosity of the objects decreases according to theoretical predictions for tidal disruption events. At present, optical spectra of the sources do not present any evident signature of the disruption event. In addition, the tidal disruption rate as derived from the XMM-Newton slew survey has been computed and agrees with previous studies.
We present SDSSJ092712.65+294344.0 as the best candidate to date for a recoiling supermassive black hole (SMBH). SDSSJ0927+2943 shows an exceptional optical emission-line spectrum with two sets of emission lines: one set of very narrow emission lines
, and a second set of broad Balmer and broad high-ionization forbidden lines which are blueshifted by 2650 kms relative to the set of narrow emission lines. This observation is most naturally explained if the SMBH was ejected from the core of the galaxy, carrying with it the broad-line gas while leaving behind the bulk of the narrow-line gas. We show that the observed properties of SDSSJ0927+2943 are consistent with predictions and expectations from recent numerical relativity simulations which demonstrate that SMBHs can receive kicks up to several thousand kms due to anisotropic emission of gravitational waves during the coalescence of a binary. Our detection of a strong candidate for a rapidly recoiling SMBH implies that kicks large enough to remove SMBHs completely from their host galaxies do occur, with important implications for models of black hole and galaxy assembly at the epoch of structure formation, and for recoil models.
