Raphael E. Hviding — Page 3

arXiv2019

Two Long-Period Cataclysmic Variable Stars: ASASSN-14ho and V1062 Cyg

We report spectroscopy and photometry of the cataclysmic variable stars ASASSN-14ho and V1062 Cyg. Both are dwarf novae with spectra dominated by their secondary stars, which we classify as approxomately K4 and M0.5, respectively. Their orbital periods, determined mostly from the secondary stars' radial velociites, proved to be nearly identical, respectively 350.14 +- 0.15 and 348.25 +- 0.60 min. The H-alpha emission line in V1062 Cyg displays a relatively sharp emission component that tracks the secondary's motion, which may arise on the irradiated face of the secondary; tihs is not often seen and may indicate an unusually strong flux of ionizing radiation. Both systems exhibit double-peaked orbital modulation consistent with ellipsoidal variation from the changing aspect of the secondary. We model these variations to constrain the orbital inclination i, and estimate approximate component masses based oni and the secondary velocity amplitude K2.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

NuSTAR and Keck Observations of Heavily Obscured Quasars Selected by WISE

A primary aim of the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission is to find and characterize heavily obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). Based on mid-infrared photometry from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and optical photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys, we have selected a large population of luminous obscured AGN (i.e., obscured quasars). Here we report NuSTAR observations of four WISE-selected heavily obscured quasars for which we have optical spectroscopy from the Southern African Large Telescope and W. M. Keck Observatory. Optical diagnostics confirm that all four targets are AGNs. With NuSTAR hard X-ray observations, three of the four objects are undetected, while the fourth has a marginal detection. We confirm that these objects have observed hard X-ray (10-40 keV) luminosities at or below ~ 10^43 erg s^-1. We compare X-ray and IR luminosities to obtain estimates of the hydrogen column densities (N_H) based on the suppression of the hard X-ray emission. We estimate N_H of these quasars to be at or larger than 10^25 cm^-2, confirming that WISE and optical selection can identify very heavily obscured quasars that may be missed in X-ray surveys, and do not contribute significantly to the cosmic X-ray background. From the optical Balmer decrements, we found that our three extreme obscured targets lie in highly reddened host environments. This galactic extinction is not adequate to explain the more obscured AGN, but it may imply a different scale of obscuration in the galaxy.

astro-ph.GA↗