Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Hyun-Jin Bae

Publications and source records attributed to Hyun-Jin Bae.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Unravelling the complex structure of AGN-driven outflows: I. Kinematics and sizes

Outflows driven by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are often invoked as agents of the long-sought AGN feedback. Yet, characterizing and quantifying the impact on their host galaxies has been challenging. We present Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph integral field unit data of 6 local (z<0.1) and luminous (L$_{[OIII]}>10^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$) Type 2 AGNs. In the first of a series of papers, we investigate the kinematics and constrain the size of the outflows. The ionized gas kinematics can be described as a superposition of a gravitational component that follows the stellar motion and an outflow-driven component that shows large velocity (up to 600 km s$^{-1}$) and large velocity dispersion (up to 800 km s$^{-1}$). Using the spatially resolved measurements of the gas, we kinematically measure the size of the outflow, which is found to be between 1.3 and 2.1 kpc. Due to the lack of a detailed kinematic analysis, previous outflow studies likely overestimate their size by up to more than a factor of 2, depending on how the size is estimated and whether the [OIII] or H$α$ emission line is used. The relatively small size of the outflows for all 6 of our objects casts doubts on their potency as a mechanism for negative AGN feedback.

astro-ph.GA↗

The Prevalence of Gas Outflows in Type 2 AGNs

To constrain the nature and fraction of the ionized gas outflows in AGNs, we perform a detailed analysis on gas kinematics as manifested by the velocity dispersion and shift of the [O III] λ5007 emission line, using a large sample of ~39,000 type 2 AGNs at z<0.3. First, we confirm a broad correlation between [O III] and stellar velocity dispersions, indicating that the bulge gravitational potential plays a main role in determining the [O III] kinematics. However, [O III] velocity dispersion is on average larger than stellar velocity dispersion by a factor of 1.3-1.4 for AGNs with double Gaussian [O III], suggesting that the non-gravitational component, i.e., outflows, is almost comparable to the gravitational component. Second, the increase of the [O III] velocity dispersion (after normalized by stellar velocity dispersion) with both AGN luminosity and Eddington ratio suggests that non-gravitational kinematics are clearly linked to AGN accretion. The distribution in the [O III] velocity - velocity dispersion diagram dramatically expands toward large values with increasing AGN luminosity, implying that the launching velocity of gas outflows increases with AGN luminosity. Third, the majority of luminous AGNs presents the non-gravitational kinematics in the [O III] profile. These results suggest that ionized gas outflows are prevalent among type 2 AGNs. On the other hand, we find no strong trend of the [O III] kinematics with radio luminosity, once we remove the effect of the bulge gravitational potential, indicating that ionized gas outflows are not directly related to radio activity for the majority of type 2 AGNs.

astro-ph.GA↗

Misclassified type 1 AGNs in the local universe

We search for misclassified type 1 AGNs among type 2 AGNs identified with emission line flux ratios, and investigate the properties of the sample. Using 4\,113 local type 2 AGNs at $0.02<z<0.05$ selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we detected a broad component of the \Ha\ line with a Full-Width at Half-Maximum (FWHM) ranging from 1\,700 to 19\,090 \kms\ for 142 objects, based on the spectral decomposition and visual inspection. The fraction of the misclassified type 1 AGNs among type 2 AGN sample is $\sim$3.5%, implying that a large number of missing type 1 AGN population may exist. The misclassified type 1 AGNs have relatively low luminosity with a mean broad \Ha\ luminosity, log L$_{Hα} = 40.50\pm0.35$ \ergs, while black hole mass of the sample is comparable to that of the local black hole population, with a mean black hole mass, log M$_{\rm BH} = 6.94\pm0.51$ M$_{\odot}$. The mean Eddington ratio of the sample is log L$_{\rm bol}$/L$_{\rm Edd}$ = $-2.00\pm0.40$, indicating that black hole activity is relatively weak, hence, AGN continuum is too weak to change the host galaxy color. We find that the \OIII\ lines show significant velocity offsets, presumably due to outflows in the narrow-line region, while the velocity offset of the narrow component of the \Ha\ line is not prominent, consistent with the ionized gas kinematics of general type 1 AGN population.

astro-ph.GA↗

A Census of Gas Outflows in Type 2 Active Galactic Nuclei

We perform a census of ionized gas outflows using a sample of ~23,000 type 2 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) out to z~0.1. By measuring the velocity offset of narrow emission lines, i.e., [O III] λ5007 and Hα, with respect to the systemic velocity measured from the stellar absorption lines, we find that 47% of AGNs display an [O III] line-of-sight velocity offset $\geq$ 20 km/s. The fraction of the [O III] velocity offset in type 2 AGNs is comparable to that in type 1 AGNs after considering the projection effect. AGNs with a large [O III] velocity offset preferentially have a high Eddington ratio, implying that the detected velocity offsets are related to black hole activity. The distribution of the host galaxy inclination is clearly different between the AGNs with blueshifted [O III] and the AGNs with redshifted [O III], supporting the combined model of the biconical outflow and dust obscuration. In addition, for ~3% of AGNs, [O III] and Hα show comparable large velocity offsets, indicating a more complex gas kinematics than decelerating outflows in a stratified narrow-line region.

astro-ph.GA↗

The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011: Fe II Reverberation from the Outer Broad-Line Region

The prominent broad Fe II emission blends in the spectra of active galactic nuclei have been shown to vary in response to continuum variations, but past attempts to measure the reverberation lag time of the optical Fe II lines have met with only limited success. Here we report the detection of Fe II reverberation in two Seyfert 1 galaxies, NGC 4593 and Mrk 1511, based on data from a program carried out at Lick Observatory in Spring 2011. Light curves for emission lines including H-beta and Fe II were measured by applying a fitting routine to decompose the spectra into several continuum and emission-line components, and we use cross-correlation techniques to determine the reverberation lags of the emission lines relative to V-band light curves. In both cases the measured lag (t_cen) of Fe II is longer than that of H-beta, although the inferred lags are somewhat sensitive to the choice of Fe II template used in the fit. For spectral decompositions done using the Fe II template of Veron-Cetty et al. (2004), we find t_cen(Fe II)/t_cen(H-beta) = 1.9+-0.6 in NGC 4593 and 1.5+-0.3 in Mrk 1511. The detection of highly correlated variations between Fe II and continuum emission demonstrates that the Fe II emission in these galaxies originates in photoionized gas, located predominantly in the outer portion of the broad-line region.

astro-ph.CO↗

The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011: Dynamical Modeling of the Broad Line Region in Mrk 50

We present dynamical modeling of the broad line region (BLR) in the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 50 using reverberation mapping data taken as part of the Lick AGN Monitoring Project (LAMP) 2011. We model the reverberation mapping data directly, constraining the geometry and kinematics of the BLR, as well as deriving a black hole mass estimate that does not depend on a normalizing factor or virial coefficient. We find that the geometry of the BLR in Mrk 50 is a nearly face-on thick disk, with a mean radius of 9.6(+1.2,-0.9) light days, a width of the BLR of 6.9(+1.2,-1.1) light days, and a disk opening angle of 25\pm10 degrees above the plane. We also constrain the inclination angle to be 9(+7,-5) degrees, close to face-on. Finally, the black hole mass of Mrk 50 is inferred to be log10(M(BH)/Msun) = 7.57(+0.44,-0.27). By comparison to the virial black hole mass estimate from traditional reverberation mapping analysis, we find the normalizing constant (virial coefficient) to be log10(f) = 0.78(+0.44,-0.27), consistent with the commonly adopted mean value of 0.74 based on aligning the M(BH)-σ* relation for AGN and quiescent galaxies. While our dynamical model includes the possibility of a net inflow or outflow in the BLR, we cannot distinguish between these two scenarios.

astro-ph.CO↗

A Keck/LRIS Spatially-Resolved Spectroscopic Study of a LINER Galaxy SDSS J091628.05+420818.7

Using spatially-resolved spectra obtained with the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer at the Keck I telescope, we investigate the nature of ionizing sources and kinematic properties of emission-line gas in a LINER galaxy SDSS J091628.05+420818.7, which is a nearby (z = 0.0241) and bright (M_r = -20.2) early-type galaxy. After subtracting stellar absorption features using a combination of simple stellar population models, we measure the flux, line-of-sight velocity, and velocity dispersion of four emission lines, i.e., Hα, Hβ, [O III] λ5007, and [N II] λ6584, to study radial change of emission-line fluxes and velocities. Compared to the point-spread-function of the observation, the emission-line region is slightly extended but comparable to the seeing size. The central concentration of emission-line gas suggests that ionization is triggered by a nuclear source, excluding old stellar population as ionizing sources. We find that emission-line gas is counter-rotating with respect to stellar component and that the [O III] λ5007 line is blueshifted compared to other emission lines, possibly due to an outflow.

astro-ph.CO↗