scholarly journals What May We Learn from Multi-Wavelength Observations of Active Galactic Nuclei

Author(s):  
Thierry J.-L. Courvoisier
Galaxies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Claudia M. Raiteri ◽  
Massimo Villata

Active galactic nuclei come in many varieties. A minority of them are radio-loud, and exhibit two opposite prominent plasma jets extending from the proximity of the supermassive black hole up to megaparsec distances. When one of the relativistic jets is oriented closely to the line of sight, its emission is Doppler beamed and these objects show extreme variability properties at all wavelengths. These are called “blazars”. The unpredictable blazar variability, occurring on a continuous range of time-scales, from minutes to years, is most effectively investigated in a multi-wavelength context. Ground-based and space observations together contribute to give us a comprehensive picture of the blazar emission properties from the radio to the γ-ray band. Moreover, in recent years, a lot of effort has been devoted to the observation and analysis of the blazar polarimetric radio and optical behaviour, showing strong variability of both the polarisation degree and angle. The Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) Collaboration, involving many tens of astronomers all around the globe, has been monitoring several blazars since 1997. The results of the corresponding data analysis have contributed to the understanding of the blazar phenomenon, particularly stressing the viability of a geometrical interpretation of the blazar variability. We review here the most significant polarimetric results achieved in the WEBT studies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 630 ◽  
pp. A108 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Spingola ◽  
J. P. McKean ◽  
D. Massari ◽  
L. V. E. Koopmans

In this paper, we exploit the gravitational lensing effect to detect proper motion in the highly magnified gravitationally lensed source MG B2016+112. We find positional shifts up to 6 mas in the lensed images by comparing two Very Long Baseline Interferometric (VLBI) radio observations at 1.7 GHz that are separated by 14.359 years, and provide an astrometric accuracy of the order of tens of μas. From lens modelling, we exclude a shift in the lensing galaxy as the cause of the positional change of the lensed images, and we assign it to the background source. The source consists of four sub-components separated by ∼175 pc, with proper motion of the order of tens μas yr−1 for the two components at highest magnification (μ ∼ 350) and of the order of a few mas yr−1 for the two components at lower magnification (μ ∼ 2). We propose single active galactic nuclei (AGN) and dual AGN scenarios to explain the source plane. Although, the latter interpretation is supported by the archival multi-wavelength properties of the object. In this case, MG B2016+112 would represent the highest redshift dual radio-loud AGN system discovered thus far, and would support the merger interpretation for such systems. Also, given the low probability (∼10−5) of detecting a dual AGN system that is also gravitationally lensed, if confirmed, this would suggest that such dual AGN systems must be more abundant in the early Universe than currently thought.


Galaxies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Philippe Lenain

Blazars are jetted active galactic nuclei with a jet pointing close to the line of sight, hence enhancing their intrinsic luminosity and variability. Monitoring these sources is essential in order to catch them flaring and promptly organize follow-up multi-wavelength observations, which are key to providing rich data sets used to derive e.g., the emission mechanisms at work, and the size and location of the flaring zone. In this context, the Fermi-LAT has proven to be an invaluable instrument, whose data are used to trigger many follow-up observations at high and very high energies. A few examples are illustrated here, as well as a description of different data products and pipelines, with a focus given on FLaapLUC, a tool in use within the H.E.S.S. collaboration.


1998 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 277-278
Author(s):  
H. Kristen ◽  
Aa. Sandqvist ◽  
P.O. Lindblad

The nuclear region of the supergiant barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 contains bright “hot spots”, as seen at optical wavelengths, as well as a number of non-thermal radio continuum sources, some of which remain unresolved at 0.25” × 0.10” resolution (Sandqvist et al. 1995, A&A 295, 585).The distribution of [OIII] λ5007 emission from the nuclear region supports the scenario of an [OIII] cone emanating from the Seyfert nucleus. The velocity field of the high excitation gas in the cone has been modeled by Hjelm & Lindblad (1996, A&A 305, 727) in terms of an accelerated bipolar conical outflow. Such conical or biconical high-excitation emission-line structures extending from the position of the nucleus are found in several active galactic nuclei.


1989 ◽  
Vol 134 ◽  
pp. 199-200
Author(s):  
R. J. V. Brissenden ◽  
I. R. Tuohy ◽  
G. V. Bicknell ◽  
R. A. Remillard ◽  
D. A. Schwartz

A sample of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) have been discovered during a program to identify the optical counterparts of X-ray sources detected by the Modulation Collimator experiment of the High Energy Astronomy Observatory-1 (HEAO-1). UV-excess techniques were used to identify the X-ray sources (Remillard et al. 1986) and the details of the identifications are given elsewhere (Remillard et al. 1988, Brissenden et al. 1988). We report here the preliminary results of a multi-wavelength study of these new AGN.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (S324) ◽  
pp. 168-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Komossa ◽  
D. Grupe ◽  
N. Schartel ◽  
L. Gallo ◽  
J. L. Gomez ◽  
...  

AbstractWe present results from our ongoing monitoring programs aimed at identifying and understanding Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) in extreme flux and spectral states. Observations of AGN in extreme states can reveal the nature of the inner accretion flow, the physics of matter under strong gravity, and they provide insight on the properties of ionized absorbers and outflows launched near supermassive black holes (SMBHs). We present new results from our long-term monitoring of IC 3599, WPVS007, and Mrk 335, multi-wavelength follow-ups of the newly identified changing-look AGN HE 1136–2304, and UV–X-ray follow-ups of the binary SMBH candidate OJ 287 after its 2015 optical maximum, now in a new optical-X-ray–high-state.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S312) ◽  
pp. 61-62
Author(s):  
S. Komossa ◽  
I. Myserlis ◽  
L. Fuhrmann ◽  
D. Xu ◽  
D. Grupe ◽  
...  

AbstractNarrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies are a sub-class of active galactic nuclei (AGN) with relatively low-mass black holes, accreting near the Eddington rate. A small fraction of them is radio-loud and harbors relativistic jets. As a class, these provide us with new insights into the cause(s) of radio-loudness, the blazar phenomenon at low black hole masses, and the operation of radio-mode feedback. The NLS1 galaxy RXJ2314.9+2243 is remarkable for its multi-wavelength properties. We present new radio observations taken at Effelsberg, and a summary of the recent results from our multi-wavelength study. RXJ2314.9+2243 is radio-loud, luminous in the infrared, has a flat X-ray spectrum and peculiar UV spectrum, and hosts an exceptionally broad and blueshifted [OIII]λ5007 emission line, indicating the presence of a strong outflow. RXJ2314.9+2243 likely represents an extreme case of AGN induced feedback in the local universe.


2011 ◽  
Vol 729 (1) ◽  
pp. 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Atlee ◽  
Paul Martini ◽  
Roberto J. Assef ◽  
Daniel D. Kelson ◽  
John S. Mulchaey

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-95
Author(s):  
Matteo Guainazzi

In this paper I discuss the status of observational studies aiming at probing the cosmological evolution of the central engine in high-luminosity, high-accretion rate Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). X-ray spectroscopic surveys, supported by extensive multi-wavelength coverage, indicate a remarkable invariance of the accretion disk plus corona system, and of their coupling up to redshifts z≈6. Furthermore, hard X-ray (<em>E</em> &gt;10 keV) surveys show that nearby Seyfert Galaxies share the same central engine notwithstanding their optical classication. These results suggest that the high-luminosity, high accretion rate quasar phase of AGN evolution is homogeneous over cosmological times.


2019 ◽  
Vol 629 ◽  
pp. A16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Buchner ◽  
Murray Brightman ◽  
Kirpal Nandra ◽  
Robert Nikutta ◽  
Franz E. Bauer

We present a unification model for a clumpy obscurer in active galactic nuclei (AGN) and investigate the properties of the resulting X-ray spectrum. Our model is constructed to reproduce the column density distribution of the AGN population and cloud eclipse events in terms of their angular sizes and frequency. We developed and released a generalised Monte Carlo X-ray radiative transfer code, XARS, to compute X-ray spectra of obscurer models. The geometry results in strong Compton scattering, causing soft photons to escape also along Compton-thick sight lines. This makes our model spectra very similar to our TORUS previous model. However, only if we introduce an additional Compton-thick reflector near the corona, we achieve good fits to NuSTAR spectra. This additional component in our model can be interpreted as part of the dust-free broad-line region, an inner wall or rim, or a warped disk. It cannot be attributed to a simple disk because the reflector must simultaneously block the line of sight to the corona and reflect its radiation. We release our model as an Xspec table model and present corresponding CLUMPY infrared spectra, paving the way for self-consistent multi-wavelength analyses.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document