arXiv subjects

D. W. Xu

Publications and source records attributed to D. W. Xu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

OQ~208: A New Fe~II Changing-look Active Galactic Nucleus and Implications for the Nature of the Changing-look Phenomenon

In addition to the traditional hydrogen Balmer emission lines, here we extend the optical changing-look (CL) phenomenon occurring in some active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to the optical FeII complex. Multiepoch spectroscopy allows to identify OQ~208, a local flat-spectrum radio source, as a new FeII CL-AGN owing to the disappearance of both its strong FeII complex (RFe $\equiv$ FeII/H$β=0.64$) and its Balmer broad-line emission on a timescale of $\sim14$\,yr. The simultaneous disappearance implies that in this object, both the FeII and Balmer emission come from the same region exposed to the ionizing continuum. We further identify an anticorrelation between the FeII strength and the continuum (and also Eddington ratio) during the CL events in dozens of CL-AGNs recently studied by Panda \& Sniegowska (2024), suggesting a negative response of RFe to both $L_{5100}$ and $L_{\mathrm{bol}}/L_{\mathrm{Edd}}$; this can be understood by the Comptonization process in a hot, optically thin accretion flow.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

SDSSJ110546.07+145202.4: The first long-duration radio changing-look NLS1 galaxy

SDSSJ110546.07+145202.4 stands out as a unique radio changing-look Narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy that has brightened dramatically and shows an exceptionally long duration of its "on" phase. We present the first high-frequency radio observations, the first simultaneous radio spectral energy distributions (SEDs), the first optical--UV--X-ray SEDs, and the first X-ray monitoring and spectroscopy of this recently discovered event. Importantly for understanding the nature of the outburst, we show that the X-ray spectrum is soft with a photon index Gamma_X=2.5; line-of-sight absorption and extinction are low or absent; the radio SED is peaked at low frequencies ~2 GHz; and the radio outburst emission is very long-lived (t > 8 yr) and roughly constant. The softness of the X-ray spectrum, low supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass, and high Eddington ratio all corroborate the optical NLS1 classification. We discuss multiple outburst scenarios, including lensing, absorption, a binary SMBH merger, a long-duration giant-star tidal disruption, a newly ignited active galactic nucleus (AGN), and an accretion-rate change. While most of them can be either excluded or are deemed too rare and lack positive evidence so far, most or all types of these transients are expected to be detected in ongoing VLA and upcoming SKA surveys. SDSSJ110546.07+145202.4 itself is well explained by an accretion rate change that triggered the powerful radio jet emission. The low redshift and SMBH mass of this system offer a unique perspective of the physical processes of radio-jet ignition that are expected to operate in the early Universe around growing SMBHs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Are "Changing-Look" Active Galactic Nuclei Special in the Coevolution of Supermassive Black Holes and their Hosts? II. The Case of Changing-Look Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies

The evolutionary role of the so-called ``changing-look'' (CL) active galactic nucleus (AGN), which is characterized by spectral-type transitions within $\sim10$ yr, has been suggested in the past few years. By focusing on CL-AGNs having spectra similar to those of broad-line Seyfert 1 galaxies, some authors have proposed that CL-AGNs tend to be at a special evolutionary stage associated with intermediate-to-old stellar populations. Here we attempt to verify this evolutionary role by extending the sample to CL narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies, which are believed to be ``young'' AGNs with a less massive supermassive black hole and high accretion rate. Combining the recent large NLS1 catalog provided by Paliya et al. (2024) and the SDSS-V DR19 spectral survey returns only three CL-NLS1s out of a parent sample of 884 objects, reinforcing the rarity of CL-NLS1s. Subsequent spectral analysis shows that the evolutionary role mentioned above still holds, although CL-NLS1s tend to occupy the young end of the intermediate-old population. Finally, we propose that off-center SDSS spectra caused by the ``fiber drop'' effect have great potential for determining the properties of the narrow-line region of NLS1s.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Potential Chromospheric Evaporation in A M-dwarf's Flare Triggered by Einstein Probe Mission

Although flares from late-type main-sequence stars have been frequently detected in multi-wavelength, the associated dynamical process has been rarely reported so far. Here, we report follow-up observations of an X-ray transient triggered by WXT onboard the Einstein Probe at UT08:45:08 in 2024, May 7. The photometry in multi-bands and time-resolved spectroscopy started at 3 and 7.5 hours after the trigger, respectively, which enables us to identify the transient as a flare of the M-dwarf 2MASS J12184187-0609123. The bolometric energy released in the flare is estimated to be $\sim10^{36}\ \mathrm{erg}$ from its X-ray light curve. The H$α$ emission-line profile obtained at about 7 hours after the trigger shows an evident blue asymmetry with a maximum velocity of $200-250\ \mathrm{km\ s^{-1}}$. The blue wing can be likely explained by the chromospheric temperature (cool) upflow associated with chromospheric evaporation, in which the mass of the evaporating plasma is estimated to be $1.2\times10^{18}$g. In addition, a prominence eruption with an estimated mass of $7\times10^{15}\mathrm{g}<M_{\mathrm{p}}<7\times10^{18}\mathrm{g}$ can not be entirely excluded.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2024

Instability of Circumnuclear Gas Supply as An Origin of "Changing-look" Phenomenon of Supermassive Blackholes

The origin of the "Changing-look" (CL) phenomenon in supermassive black holes (SMBHs) remains an open issue. This study aims to shed light on this phenomenon by focusing on a sample that encompasses all known repeating CL active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Through the identification of a characteristic time scale for the CL phenomenon, it was observed that larger SMBHs possess shorter characteristic timescales, while smaller SMBHs exhibit longer timescales. These findings reveal a significant contrast to the traditional AGN variability that has been adequately explained by the AGN's disk instability model. This stark discrepancy highlights a distinct origin of the CL phenomenon, distinguishing it from traditional AGN variability. By properly predicting the characteristic time scale and its dependence on SMBH mass, we propose that the CL phenomenon is likely a result of a variation in accretion rate caused by a sudden change in the supply of circumnuclear gas during the transition between active and passive SMBH fueling stages.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Changing-look NLS1 galaxies, their detection with SVOM, and the case of NGC 1566

We discuss applications of the study of the new and barely explored class of changing-look (CL) narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies and comment on their detection with the space mission SVOM (Space Variable Objects Monitor). We highlight the case of NGC 1566, which is outstanding in many respects, for instance as one of the nearest known CL AGN undergoing exceptional outbursts. Its NLS1 nature is discussed, and we take it as a nearby prototype for systems that could be discovered and studied in the near future, including with SVOM. Finally, we briefly examine the broader implications and applications of CL events in NLS1 galaxies and show that such systems, once discovered in larger numbers, will greatly advance our understanding of the physics of the environment of rapidly growing supermassive black holes. This White Paper is part of a sequence of publications which explore aspects of our understanding of (CL) NLS1 galaxy physics with future missions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Are "Changing-Look'' Active Galactic Nuclei Special in the Coevolution of Supermassive Black Holes and their Hosts? I

The nature of the so-called ``changing-look'' (CL) active galactic nucleus (AGN), which is characterized by spectral-type transitions within $\sim10$~yr, remains an open question. As the first in our series of studies, we here attempt to understand the CL phenomenon from a view of the coevolution of AGNs and their host galaxies (i.e., if CL-AGNs are at a specific evolutionary stage) by focusing on the SDSS local ``partially obscured'' AGNs in which the stellar population of the host galaxy can be easily measured in the integrated spectra. A spectroscopic follow-up program using the Xinglong 2.16~m, Lick/Shane 3~m, and Keck 10~m telescopes enables us to identify in total 9 CL-AGNs from a sample of 59 candidates selected by their mid-infrared variability. Detailed analysis of these spectra shows that the host galaxies of the CL-AGNs are biased against young stellar populations and tend to be dominated by intermediate-age stellar populations. This motivates us to propose that CL-AGNs are probably particular AGNs at a specific evolutionary stage, such as a transition stage from ``feast'' to ``famine'' fueling of the supermassive black hole. In addition, we reinforce the previous claim that CL-AGNs tend to be biased against both a high Eddington ratio and a high bolometric luminosity, suggesting that the disk-wind broad-line-region model is a plausible explanation of the CL phenomenon.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Accretion and Host-Galaxy Properties of 14 New "Changing-Look'' Active Galactic Nuclei Identified from the SDSS-V Survey

The widely accepted active galactic nucleus (AGN) paradigm has been recently challenged by the discovery of the so-called ``changing-look'' (CL) phenomenon characterized by spectral-type transitions. By comparing the SDSS-V and SDSS DR16 spectroscopic datasets, here we report the identification of 14 new CL-AGNs (redshift $z<0.5$) exhibiting spectral-type changes on a timescale of $\sim 10$yr. Follow-up spectroscopy was conducted with the Lick Shane 3m and Keck 10m telescopes for three of the objects. Detailed analysis of these spectra enables us to arrive at the following two main results. (1) By compiling a sample of 65 CL-AGNs with good measurements, we reinforce the previous claim that CL-AGNs tend to be biased against both a high Eddington ratio ($\lesssim 0.1$) and a high bolometric luminosity ($\lesssim 10^{46}\,\mathrm{erg\,s^{-1}}$). This bias suggests that the disk-wind broad-line-region model is a plausible explanation of the CL phenomenon. (2) The host galaxies of CL-AGNs tend to be dominated by intermediate stellar populations, which motivates us to propose that CL-AGNs are probably particular AGNs at a special evolutionary stage, such as a transition stage from ``feast'' to ``famine'' fueling of the supermassive black hole. In addition, with our spectra, we identify SDSS J025951.22+003744.2 as a new repeat CL narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy with a rapid ``turn-on'' timescale of $\sim 1$yr.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

B3\,0749+460A: A New "Changing-Look" Active Galactic Nucleus Associated with X-ray Spectral Slope Variations

Here we report an identification of B3\,0749+460A as a new double-peaked local "changing-look" active galactic nucleus (CL-AGN) in terms of our multi-epoch spectroscopic analysis. By comparing our new spectra taken in 2021 with the ones taken by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in 2004, BOSS in 2013, and MaNGA in 2016, we reveal type transitions of Seyfert (Sy) 1.9$\rightarrow$Sy1.8$\rightarrow$Sy1.9. In the transitions, the classical broad H$α$ emission fades away since 2013, and disappears in our 2021 spectrum, although the absence of broad H$β$ can be traced back to at least 2016. A follow-up observation in X-rays by the {\it Swift}/XRT reveals that (1) the X-ray emission level gradually decreases since 2005; and (2) the X-ray spectrum is soft in the optical "turn-off" state and hard in the "turn-on" state. We argue that the disappearance of the classical broad H$α$ emission can be likely explained by the disk-wind broad-line-region model, in which the CL phenomenon is sensitive to luminosity in individual AGNs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

The intra-day Optical Monitoring of BL Lacerate Object 1ES 1218+304 at Its Highest X-ray Flux Level

We here report a monitor of the BL Lac object 1ES 1218+304 in both B- and R-bands by the GWAC-F60A telescope in eight nights, when it was triggerd to be at its highest X-ray flux in history by the VERITAS Observatory and Swift follow-ups. Both ANOVA and $χ^2$-test enable us to clearly reveal an intra-day variability in optical wavelengths in seven out of the eight nights. A bluer-when-brighter chromatic relationship has been clearly identified in five out of the eight nights, which can be well explained by the shock-in-jet model. In addtion, a quasi-periodic oscilation phenomenon in both bands could be tentatively identified in the first night. A positive delay between the two bands has been revealed in three out of the eight nights, and a negative one in the other nights. The identfied minimum time delay enables us to estimate the $M_{\mathrm{BH}}=2.8\times10^7 \rm M_{\odot}$that is invalid.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

An X-ray Luminosity-dependent "Changing-look" Phenomenon in UGC 3223

The nature of the rare "Changing-look" (CL) phenomenon in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is still under debate at current stage. We here present \it Swift/\rm XRT and UVOT follow-up observations of UGC\,3223, a newly discovered repeat CL-AGN with type transitions of $\mathrm{S1.5\rightarrow S2 \rightarrow S1.8}$ occurring in a period of about 30 years. By comparing the values previously reported in the \it ROSAT \rm All-sky Survey and in the second Swift-XRT Point Source catalog, we clearly find that the X-ray flux tightly follows the optical spectral transition, in which a spectral type closer to a Seyfert 1 type is associated with a higher X-ray flux. An invariable X-ray spectral shape is, however, found in the CL phenomenon of the object. An extremely low Eddington ratio of $\sim2\times10^{-4}$ can be obtained from the X-ray luminosity for its Seyfert 2 state, which suggests a favor of the disk-wind broad-line region model in explaining the CL phenomenon. A variation of the total UV emission is not revealed when compared to the previous \it GALEX \rm NUV observation, since the UVOT images indicate that $\sim90$\% UV emission comes from the intensive star formation in the host galaxy.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Suspended and restored activities of A Nearby Super Massive Black Hole

The discovery of spectral type transition of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), the so-called changing-look(CL) phenomenon, challenges the widely accepted AGN paradigm, not only in the orientation based Unified Model, but also in the standard disk model. In past decades, only a couple of nearby repeat "changing-look" active galactic nuclei (CL-AGNs) have been identified. Here we report spectroscopic observations of UGC 3223 over the course of 18 years, from 2001 onwards. Combining the spectrum taken in 1987 by Stirpe, we have witnessed its type transitions from $1.5\rightarrow2.0\rightarrow1.8$ over 32 years, and captured a long-lived (at least 10 years) thorough "turn-off" state with a spectrum typical of a Seyfert 2 galaxy. The long-term thorough "turn-off" state probably suggests a once-dormant and an awakening central engine in UGC3223. We argue the (dis)appearance of the broad Balmer emission lines can be explained by the disk-wind BLR model given the evolution of the calculated Eddington ratio of accretion of the supermassive black hole.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

The mini-GWAC optical follow-up of the gravitational wave alerts: results from the O2 campaign and prospects for the upcoming O3 run

The second observational campaign of gravitational waves organized by the LIGO/Virgo Collaborations has led to several breakthroughs such as the detection of gravitational wave signals from merger systems involving black holes or neutrons stars. During O2,14 gravitational wave alerts were sent to the astronomical community with sky regions covering mostly over hundreds of square degrees. Among them, 6 have been finally confirmed as real astrophysical events. Since 2013, a new set of ground-based robotic telescopes called GWAC and its pathfinder mini-GWAC have been developed to contribute to the various challenges of themulti-messenger and time domain astronomy. The GWAC system is built up in the framework of the ground-segment system of the SVOM mission that will be devoted to the study of the multi-wavelength transient sky in the next decade. During O2, only the mini-GWAC telescopenetwork was fully operational. Due to the wide field of view and fast automatic follow-up capabilities of the mini-GWAC telescopes, they were well adapted to efficiently cover the sky localization areas of the gravitational wave event candidates. In this paper, we present the mini-GWAC pipeline we have set up to respond to the GW alerts and we report our optical follow-up observations of 8 GW alerts detected during the O2 run. Our observations provided the largest coverage of the GW localization areas in a short latency made by any optical facility. We found tens of optical transient candidates in our images, but none of those could be securely associated with any confirmed black hole-black hole merger event. Based on this first experience and the near future technical improvements of our network system, we will be more competitive to detect the optical counterparts from some gravitational wave events that will be detected during the upcoming O3 run, especially those emerging from binary neutron star mergers.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Two New "Turn-off" Changing-look Active Galactic nuclei and Implication on "Partially Obscured" AGNs

We here report a spectroscopic identification of two new changing-look AGNs (CL-AGNs): SDSS\,J104705.16+544405.8 and SDSS\,J120447.91+170256.8 both with a "turn-off" type transition from type 1 to type 1.8/1.9. The identification is arrived by a follow-up spectroscopic observation of the five changing-look AGN (CL-AGN) candidates that are extracted from the sample recently released in Macleod et al. The candidates are extract by the authors from the Sloan Digit Sky Survey Data Release 7 spectroscopically confirmed quasars with large amplitude variability. By compiling a sample of 26 previously identified CL-AGNs, we confirm the claim in Macleod et al. that CL-AGNs tend to be biased against low Eddington ratio, and identify an overlap between the CL-AGNs at their dim state and the so-called intermediate-type AGNs. The overlap implies that there two populations of the intermediate-type AGNs with different origins. One is due to the torus orientation effect, and the another the intrinsic change of the accretion rate of the central supermassive blackholes.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Low-mass and High-mass Supermassive Blackholes In Radio-Loud AGNs Are Spun-up in Different Evolution Paths

How Supermassive Blackholes (SMBHs) are spun-up is a key issue of modern astrophysics. As an extension of the study in Wang et al. (2016), we here address the issue by comparing the host galaxy properties of nearby ($z<0.05$) radio-selected Seyfert 2 galaxies. With the two-dimensional bulge+disk decompositions for the SDSS $r$-band images, we identify a dichotomy on various host galaxy properties for the radio-powerful SMBHs. By assuming the radio emission from the jet reflects a high SMBH spin, which stems from the well-known BZ mechanism of jet production, high-mass SMBHs (i.e., $M_{\mathrm{BH}}>10^{7.9}M_\odot$) have a preference for being spun-up in classical bulges, and low-mass SMBHs (i.e., $M_{\mathrm{BH}}=10^{6-7}M_\odot$) in pseudo-bulges. This dichotomy suggests and confirms that high-mass and low-mass SMBHs are spun-up in different ways, i.e., a major "dry" merger and a secular evolution.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

Extreme Gaseous Outflows in Radio-Loud Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies

We present four radio-loud NLS1 galaxies with extreme emission-line shifts, indicating radial outflow velocities of the ionized gas of up to 2450 km/s, above the escape velocity of the host galaxies. The forbidden lines show strong broadening, up to 2270 km/s. An ionization stratification (higher line shift at higher ionization potential) implies that we see a large-scale outflow rather than single, localized jet-cloud interactions. Similarly, the paucity of zero-velocity [OIII]$λ$5007 emitting gas implies the absence of a second narrow-line region (NLR) component at rest, and therefore a large part of the high-ionization NLR is affected by the outflow. Given the radio loudness of these NLS1 galaxies, the observations are consistent with a pole on view onto their central engines, so that the effects of polar outflows are maximized. In addition, a very efficient driving mechanism is required, to reach the high observed velocities. We explore implications from recent hydrodynamic simulations of the interaction between fast winds or jets with the large-scale NLR. Overall, the best agreement with observations (and especially the high outflow speeds of the [NeV] emitting gas) can be reached if the NLS1 galaxies are relatively young sources with lifetimes not much exceeding 1 Myr. These systems represent sites of strong feedback at NLR scales at work, well below redshift one.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

Identification of SDSSJ141324.27+530527.0 as A New "Changing-Look" Quasar with a "Turn-on" Transition

We here report an identification of SDSSJ141324+530527.0 (SBS1411+533) at $z=0.456344$ as a new "changing-look" quasar with a "turn-on" spectral type transition from Type-1.9/2 to Type-1 within a rest frame time scale of 1-10 yr by a comparison of our new spectroscopic observation and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) archive data base. The SDSS DR7 spectrum taken in 2003 is dominated by a starlight emission from host galaxies redward of the Balmer limit, and has non-detectable broad H$β$ line. The new spectrum taken by us on June 1st, 2017 and SDSS DR14 spectrum taken on May 29, 2017 indicate that the object is of a typical quasar spectrum with a blue continuum and strong Balmer broad emission lines. In addition, an intermediate spectral type can be identified in the SDSS DR13 spectrum taken in 2015. The invariability of the line wing of MgII$\lambda2800$ emission and time scale argument (The invariability of [OIII]$λ$5007 line blue asymmetry) suggests that a variation of obscuration (an accelerating outflow) is not a favorable scenario. The time scale argument allows us to believe the type transition is possibly caused by either a viscous radial inflow or a disk instability around a $\sim5-9\times10^{7}M_\odot$ black hole.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

A Global Photoionization Response to Prompt Emission and Outliers: Different Origin of Long Gamma-ray Bursts?

By using the line ratio \ion{C}{4}$\lambda1549$/\ion{C}{2}$\lambda1335$ as a tracer of ionization ratio of the interstellar medium (ISM) illuminated by a long gamma-ray burst (LGRB), we identify a global photoionization response of the ionization ratio to the photon luminosity of the prompt emission assessed by either $L_{\mathrm{iso}}/E_{\mathrm{peak}}$ or $L_{\mathrm{iso}}/E^2_{\mathrm{peak}}$. The ionization ratio increases with both $L_{\mathrm{iso}}/E_{\mathrm{peak}}$ and $L_{\mathrm{iso}}/E^2_{\mathrm{peak}}$ for a majority of the LGRBs in our sample, although there are a few outliers. The identified dependence of \ion{C}{4}/\ion{C}{2} on $L_{\mathrm{iso}}/E^2_{\mathrm{peak}}$ suggests that the scatter of the widely accepted Amati relation is related with the ionization ratio in ISM. The outliers tend to have relatively high \ion{C}{4}/\ion{C}{2} values as well as relatively high \ion{C}{4}$\lambda1549$/\ion{Si}{4}$\lambda1403$ ratios, which suggests an existence of Wolf-Rayet stars in the environment of these LGRBs. We finally argue that the outliers and the LGRBs following the identified \ion{C}{4}/\ion{C}{2}$-L_{\mathrm{iso}}/E_{\mathrm{peak}}$ ($L_{\mathrm{iso}}/E^2_{\mathrm{peak}}$) correlation might come from different progenitors with different local environments.

astro-ph.HE↗