Broad-line Region Characterization in Dozens of Active Galactic Nuclei Using Small-aperture Telescopes
We present the results of a nearly decade-long photometric reverberation mapping (PRM) survey of the H α emission line in nearby (0.01 ≲ z ≲ 0.05) Seyfert galaxies using small (15–40 cm) telescopes. Broadband filters were used to trace the continuum emission, while narrowband filters tracked the H α...
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2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/ad9474 |
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| author | Catalina Sobrino Figaredo Doron Chelouche Martin Haas Michael Ramolla Shai Kaspi Swayamtrupta Panda Martin W. Ochmann Shay Zucker Rolf Chini Malte A. Probst Wolfram Kollatschny Miguel Murphy |
| author_facet | Catalina Sobrino Figaredo Doron Chelouche Martin Haas Michael Ramolla Shai Kaspi Swayamtrupta Panda Martin W. Ochmann Shay Zucker Rolf Chini Malte A. Probst Wolfram Kollatschny Miguel Murphy |
| author_sort | Catalina Sobrino Figaredo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We present the results of a nearly decade-long photometric reverberation mapping (PRM) survey of the H α emission line in nearby (0.01 ≲ z ≲ 0.05) Seyfert galaxies using small (15–40 cm) telescopes. Broadband filters were used to trace the continuum emission, while narrowband filters tracked the H α -line signal. We introduce a new PRM formalism to determine the time delay between continuum and line emission using combinations of auto- and cross-correlation functions. We obtain robust delays for 33/80 objects, allowing us to estimate the broad-line region (BLR) size. Additionally, we measure multiepoch delays for six objects whose scatter per source is smaller than the scatter in the BLR size–luminosity relation. Our study enhances the existing H α size–luminosity relation by adding high-quality results for 31 objects, whose nuclear luminosities were estimated using the flux-variation gradient method, resulting in a scatter of 0.26 dex within our sample. The scatter reduces to 0.17 dex when the six lowest-luminosity sources are discarded, which is comparable to that found for the H β line. Single-epoch spectra enable us to estimate black hole masses using the H α line and derive mass accretion rates from the iron-blend feature adjacent to H β . A similar trend, as previously reported for the H β line, is implied whereby highly accreting objects tend to lie below the size–luminosity relation of the general population. Our work demonstrates the effectiveness of small telescopes in conducting high-fidelity PRM campaigns of prominent emission lines in bright active galactic nuclei. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0f993dcb1f464f5091f9536ba28bbde7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0067-0049 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series |
| spelling | doaj-art-0f993dcb1f464f5091f9536ba28bbde72025-01-20T06:34:40ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series0067-00492025-01-0127624810.3847/1538-4365/ad9474Broad-line Region Characterization in Dozens of Active Galactic Nuclei Using Small-aperture TelescopesCatalina Sobrino Figaredo0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9704-690XDoron Chelouche1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4830-7787Martin Haas2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7284-0477Michael Ramolla3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8391-0883Shai Kaspi4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9925-534XSwayamtrupta Panda5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5854-7426Martin W. Ochmann6https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3300-0089Shay Zucker7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3173-3138Rolf Chini8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7538-3072Malte A. Probst9https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2929-8639Wolfram Kollatschny10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0417-1494Miguel Murphy11Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa , Haifa 3498838, Israel ; csobrinofigaredo@gmail.com; Haifa Research Center for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of Haifa , Haifa 3498838, IsraelDepartment of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa , Haifa 3498838, Israel ; csobrinofigaredo@gmail.com; Haifa Research Center for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of Haifa , Haifa 3498838, IsraelRuhr University Bochum , Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute (AIRUB), 44780 Bochum, GermanyCarl Zeiss Industrielle Messtechnik GmbH , Carl-Zeiss-Str. 4-54, 73447 Oberkochen, GermanySchool of Physics and Astronomy and Wise Observatory, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences , Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, IsraelLaboratório Nacional de Astrofísica , MCTI, Rua dos Estados Unidos, 154, Bairro das Nações, Itajubá, MG 37501-591, Brazil; International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab , Casilla 603, La Serena, ChileRuhr University Bochum , Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute (AIRUB), 44780 Bochum, Germany; Institut für Astrophysik und Geophysik, Universität Göttingen , Friedrich-Hund Platz 1, D-37077 Göttingen, GermanyDepartment of Geosciences, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences , Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, IsraelRuhr University Bochum , Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute (AIRUB), 44780 Bochum, Germany; Universidad Católica del Norte , Instituto de Astronomía, Avenida Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile; Polish Academy of Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center , Bartycka 18, 00-716 Warszawa, PolandInstitut für Astrophysik und Geophysik, Universität Göttingen , Friedrich-Hund Platz 1, D-37077 Göttingen, GermanyInstitut für Astrophysik und Geophysik, Universität Göttingen , Friedrich-Hund Platz 1, D-37077 Göttingen, GermanyUniversidad Católica del Norte , Instituto de Astronomía, Avenida Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, ChileWe present the results of a nearly decade-long photometric reverberation mapping (PRM) survey of the H α emission line in nearby (0.01 ≲ z ≲ 0.05) Seyfert galaxies using small (15–40 cm) telescopes. Broadband filters were used to trace the continuum emission, while narrowband filters tracked the H α -line signal. We introduce a new PRM formalism to determine the time delay between continuum and line emission using combinations of auto- and cross-correlation functions. We obtain robust delays for 33/80 objects, allowing us to estimate the broad-line region (BLR) size. Additionally, we measure multiepoch delays for six objects whose scatter per source is smaller than the scatter in the BLR size–luminosity relation. Our study enhances the existing H α size–luminosity relation by adding high-quality results for 31 objects, whose nuclear luminosities were estimated using the flux-variation gradient method, resulting in a scatter of 0.26 dex within our sample. The scatter reduces to 0.17 dex when the six lowest-luminosity sources are discarded, which is comparable to that found for the H β line. Single-epoch spectra enable us to estimate black hole masses using the H α line and derive mass accretion rates from the iron-blend feature adjacent to H β . A similar trend, as previously reported for the H β line, is implied whereby highly accreting objects tend to lie below the size–luminosity relation of the general population. Our work demonstrates the effectiveness of small telescopes in conducting high-fidelity PRM campaigns of prominent emission lines in bright active galactic nuclei.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/ad9474Active galactic nucleiReverberation mappingNarrow band photometrySupermassive black holesQuasarsScaling relations |
| spellingShingle | Catalina Sobrino Figaredo Doron Chelouche Martin Haas Michael Ramolla Shai Kaspi Swayamtrupta Panda Martin W. Ochmann Shay Zucker Rolf Chini Malte A. Probst Wolfram Kollatschny Miguel Murphy Broad-line Region Characterization in Dozens of Active Galactic Nuclei Using Small-aperture Telescopes The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series Active galactic nuclei Reverberation mapping Narrow band photometry Supermassive black holes Quasars Scaling relations |
| title | Broad-line Region Characterization in Dozens of Active Galactic Nuclei Using Small-aperture Telescopes |
| title_full | Broad-line Region Characterization in Dozens of Active Galactic Nuclei Using Small-aperture Telescopes |
| title_fullStr | Broad-line Region Characterization in Dozens of Active Galactic Nuclei Using Small-aperture Telescopes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Broad-line Region Characterization in Dozens of Active Galactic Nuclei Using Small-aperture Telescopes |
| title_short | Broad-line Region Characterization in Dozens of Active Galactic Nuclei Using Small-aperture Telescopes |
| title_sort | broad line region characterization in dozens of active galactic nuclei using small aperture telescopes |
| topic | Active galactic nuclei Reverberation mapping Narrow band photometry Supermassive black holes Quasars Scaling relations |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/ad9474 |
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