arXiv subjects

Y. Diaz

Publications and source records attributed to Y. Diaz.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Spatially resolved optical and mid-infrared spectroscopy of SDSS1335+0728: implications for the origin of the Ansky event

The galaxy SDSS1335+0728 brightened abruptly in December 2019 (the Ansky event) and has since been confirmed as the host of extreme X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) of debated origin. We constrain the origin of its transient activity by characterising the galaxy properties and nuclear accretion history with spatially resolved VLT/MUSE and JWST MIRI/MRS spectroscopy. We extract stellar and gas kinematics and emission-line fluxes, construct emission-line ionisation diagnostic maps, reconstruct the nuclear ionisation history via a Balmer-line light-echo analysis, and measure the mid-infrared silicate feature strength. The stellar kinematics reveal two counter-rotating stellar regions and kinematically cold gas ($\sigma_{\rm gas} \lesssim 60$ km s$^{-1}$), consistent with a past minor merger. Stellar populations show an old host with ongoing star formation confined to a ring at intermediate radii. Ionisation diagnostics reveal a three-zone structure: a central region powered by SMBH accretion, where high-ionisation coronal lines ([NeVI]$\lambda7.65\mu$m, [NeV]$\lambda14.32\mu$m, [OIV]$\lambda25.89\mu$m) are confined, a star-forming ring, and a LINER-like outer region. A Balmer-line light-echo analysis yields a minimum ionising luminosity $\log L_{\rm ion,min} \approx 40.5$ erg s$^{-1}$ sustained over at least $\sim 1\,500$ yr. Broad silicate emission at 9.7 and 18$\mu$m indicates optically thin dust, inconsistent with a classical active galactic nucleus (AGN) dusty torus. The data are consistent with two scenarios for the pre-2019 accretion: a persisting or gradually fading low-luminosity AGN, or a long-lived tidal disruption event (TDE) remnant disc. In both, Ansky corresponds to a slow, faint transient in a $\sim\!10^6\,M_{\odot}$ SMBH with already ongoing accretion, challenging the "faded AGN" interpretation proposed for some QPE hosts.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

ALMA discovery of Punctum -- a highly polarized mm source in nuclear starburst galaxy NGC 4945

We report the discovery of a highly polarized millimeter (mm) continuum source in the central region of NGC 4945, identified through ALMA Band 3 observations. This starburst Seyfert 2 galaxy contains numerous compact mm sources, yet only one - located approximately 3.4" (~60 pc) from the galactic center and unresolved with ~0.1" resolution - exhibits an unusually high polarization degree of 50% $\pm$ 14%, likely originating from non-thermal synchrotron radiation. The source is faint, yet clearly detected in two separate epochs of observation taken 14 days apart, with flux of 0.104 $\pm$ 0.018 and 0.125 $\pm$ 0.016 mJy, as well as in earlier ALMA observations, showing no variability at any timescale. The spectral index remains stable within large uncertainties, -1.8 $\pm$ 2.5 and -1.3 $\pm$ 2.5. The source, which we further refer to as Punctum due to its compactness, revealed no clear counterparts in existing X-ray or radio observations. Assuming association with the central region of NGC 4945, we estimate upper limits for its luminosity of ~1 $\times$ 10$^{37}$ erg s$^{-1}$ in the 3-6 keV X-ray band (from archival Chandra data) and ~5 $\times$ 10$^{35}$ erg s$^{-1}$ at 23 GHz (from archival ATCA data). A comparison of the radio, mm (including polarization), and X-ray properties with known astrophysical sources emitting synchrotron radiation, such as accreting neutron stars, supernova remnants, and non-thermal galactic filaments, revealed no clear match in any of these scenarios. The exact nature of this highly polarized source remains undetermined.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Investigating Changing-Look Active Galactic Nuclei with Long-term Optical and X-Ray Observations

Changing-look active galactic nuclei (CLAGNs) show the appearance and disappearance of broad emission lines in their UV/optical spectra on timescales of months to decades. Here, we investigate how CL transitions depend on several AGN parameters such as accretion rate, obscuration properties and black hole mass. We study a sample of 20 nearby optically-identified CLAGNs from the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS), using quasi-simultaneous optical and X-ray observations taken in the last $\sim 40$ years. We find that for all CLAGNs, the transition is accompanied by a change in Eddington ratio. The CL transitions are not associated with changes in the obscuration properties of the AGN. CLAGNs are found to have a median Eddington ratio lower than the AGNs in the BASS sample in which CL transitions were not detected. The median of the transition Eddington ratio (Eddington ratio at which AGN changes its state) is found to be $\sim 0.01$ for type 1 $\leftrightarrow$ 1.8/1.9/2 transition, which is consistent with the hard $\leftrightarrow$ soft state transition in black hole X-ray binaries. Most CL events are constrained to occur within 3-4 years, which is considerably shorter than the expected viscous timescale in AGN accretion disk. The transitions of the optical CLAGNs studied here are likely associated to state changes in the accretion flow, possibly driven by disk-instability.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

BASS XLI: the correlation between Mid-infrared emission lines and Active Galactic Nuclei emission

We analyze the Spitzer spectra of 140 active galactic nuclei (AGN) detected in the hard X-rays (14-195 keV) by the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on board Swift. This sample allows us to probe several orders of magnitude in black hole masses ($10^6-10^9 M_{\odot}$), Eddington ratios ($10^{-3}-1$), X-ray luminosities ($10^{42}-10^{45}\rm\,erg\,s^{-1}$), and X-ray column densities ($10^{20}-10^{24}\rm\,cm^{-2}$). The AGN emission is expected to be the dominant source of ionizing photons with energies $\gtrsim50$ eV, and therefore high-ionization mid-infrared (MIR) emission lines such as [Ne V] 14.32, 24.32 $\mu$m and [O IV] 25.89 $\mu$m are predicted to be good proxies of AGN activity, and robust against obscuration effects. We find high detection rates ($\gtrsim85-90$ per cent) for the mid-infrared coronal emission lines in our AGN sample. The luminosities of these lines are correlated with the 14-150 keV luminosity (with a typical scatter of $\sigma \sim 0.4-0.5$ dex), strongly indicating that the mid-infrared coronal line emission is driven by AGN activity. Interestingly, we find that the coronal lines are more tightly correlated to the bolometric luminosity ($\sigma \sim 0.2-0.3$ dex), calculated from careful analysis of the spectral energy distribution, than to the X-ray luminosity. We find that the relationship between the coronal line strengths and $L_{14-150\rm\,keV}$ is independent of black hole mass, Eddington ratio and X-ray column density. This confirms that the mid-infrared coronal lines can be used as unbiased tracers of the AGN power for X-ray luminosities in the $10^{42}-10^{45}\rm\,erg\,s^{-1}$ range.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Constraining X-ray reflection in the low-luminosity AGN NGC 3718 using NuSTAR and XMM--Newton

One distinctive feature of low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGN) is the relatively weak reflection features they may display in the X-ray spectrum, which can result from the disappearance of the torus with decreasing accretion rates. Some material, however, must surround the active nucleus, i.e., the accretion flow itself and, possibly, a flattened-out or thinned torus. In this work, we study whether reflection is indeed absent or undetectable due to its intrinsically weak features together with the low statistics inherent to LLAGN. Here we focus on NGC 3718 ($L/L_{\rm Edd}\sim10^{-5}$) combining observations from XMM--Newton and the deepest to date NuSTAR (0.5--79 keV) spectrum of a LLAGN, to constrain potential reflectors, and analyze how the fitted coronal parameters depend on the reflection model. We test models representing both an accretion disc (Relxill) and a torus-like (MYTorus and Borus) neutral reflector. From a statistical point of view, reflection is not required, but its inclusion allows to place strong constraints on the geometry and physical features of the surroundings: both neutral reflectors (torus) tested should be Compton thin ($N_H<10^{23.2}$cm$^{-2}$) and preferentially cover a large fraction of the sky. If the reflected light instead arises from an ionized reflector, a highly ionized case is preferred. These models produce an intrinsic power-law spectral index in the range [1.81--1.87], where the torus models result in steeper slopes. The cut-off energy of the power-law emission also changes with the inclusion of reflection models, resulting in constrained values for the disc reflectors and unconstrained values for torus reflectors.

astro-ph.HE↗