Edward C. Moran

BLACK HOLES AT THE CENTERS OF NEARBY DWARF GALAXIES

Using a distance-limited portion of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7, we have identified 28 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in nearby (d < 80 Mpc) low-mass, low-luminosity dwarf galaxies. The accreting objects at the galaxy centers are expected to be intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) with M_BH < 1e6 M_sun. The AGNs were selected using several optical emission-line diagnostics after careful modeling of the continuum present in the spectra. We have limited our survey to objects with spectral characteristics similar to those of Seyfert nuclei, excluding emission-line galaxies with ambiguous spectra that could be powered by stellar processes. The host galaxies in our sample are thus the least massive objects in the very local universe certain to contain central black holes. Given our focus on the nearest objects included in the SDSS, our survey is more sensitive to low-luminosity emission than previous optical searches for AGNs in low-mass galaxies. The [O III] lambda5007 luminosities of the Seyfert nuclei in our sample have a median value of L_5007 = 2e5 L_sun and extend down to 1e4 L_sun. Using published data for broad-line IMBH candidates, we have derived an [O III] bolometric correction of log (L_bol/L_5007) = 3.0 +/- 0.3, which is significantly lower than values obtained for high-luminosity AGNs. Applying this correction to our sample, we obtain minimum black-hole mass estimates that fall mainly in the 10^3 M_sun -- 10^4 M_sun range, which is roughly where the predicted mass functions for different black-hole seed formation scenarios overlap the most. In the stellar mass range that includes the bulk of the AGN host galaxies in our sample, we derive a lower limit on the AGN fraction of a few percent, indicating that active nuclei in dwarf galaxies are not as rare as previously thought.

MULTIWAVELENGTH MONITORING OF THE DWARF SEYFERT 1 GALAXY NGC 4395. I. A REVERBERATION-BASED MEASUREMENT OF THE BLACK HOLE MASS

A reverberation-mapping program on NGC 4395, the least luminous known Seyfert 1 galaxy, undertaken with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope yields a measurement of the mass of the central black hole MBH = (3.6 ± 1.1) × 105 M☉. The observations consist of two visits of five orbits each, in 2004 April and July. During each of these visits, the UV continuum varied by at least 10% (rms), and only C IV λ1549 showed corresponding variations large enough to reliably determine the emission-line lag, which was measured to be of order 1 hr for both visits. The size of the C IV-emitting region is about a factor of 3 smaller than expected if the slope of the broad-line region radius-luminosity relationship is identical to that for the Hβ emission line. NGC 4395 is underluminous even for its small black hole mass; the Eddington ratio of ~1.2 × 10-3 is lower than that of any other active galactic nucleus for which a black hole mass measurement has been made by emission-line reverberation.

Chandra detection of a Type II quasar at z = 3.288

We report on observations of a type II quasar at redshift z ¼ 3:288, identified as a hard X-ray source in a 185 ks observation with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and as a high-redshift photometric candidate from deep, multiband optical imaging. CXO J084837.9+445352 (hereafter CXO 52) shows an unusually hard Xray spectrum from which we infer an absorbing column density NH ¼ð 4:8 � 2:1 Þ� 10 23 cm � 2 (90% confidence) and an implied unabsorbed 2 10 keV rest-frame luminosity of L2 10 ¼ 3:3 � 10 44 ergs s � 1 , well within the quasar regime. Hubble Space Telescope imaging shows CXO 52 to be elongated with slight morphological differences between the WFPC2 F814W and NICMOS F160W bands. Optical and near-infrared spectroscopy of CXO 52 shows high-ionization emission lines with velocity widths � 1000 km s � 1 and flux ratios similar to a Seyfert 2 galaxy or radio galaxy. The latter are the only class of high-redshift type II luminous active galactic nuclei that have been extensively studied to date. Unlike radio galaxies, however, CXO 52 is radio quiet, remaining undetected at radio wavelengths to fairly deep limits, f4:8 GHz < 40 lJy. High-redshift type II quasars, expected from unification models of active galaxies and long thought necessary to explain the X-ray background, are poorly constrained observationally, with few such systems known. We discuss recent observations of similar type II quasars and detail search techniques for such systems, namely, (1) X-ray selection, (2) radio selection, (3) multicolor imaging selection, and (4) narrowband imaging selection. Such studies are likely to begin identifying luminous, high-redshift type II systems in large numbers. We discuss the prospects for these studies and their implications for our understanding of the X-ray background. Subject headings: cosmology: observations — galaxies: active — quasars: individual (CXO J084837.9+445352) — X-rays: galaxies

The Frequency of Polarized Broad Emission Lines in Type 2 Seyfert Galaxies

We have discovered polarized broad emission lines in five type 2 Seyfert galaxies (NGC 424, NGC 591, NGC 2273, NGC 3081, and NGC 4507), establishing that these objects are type 1 Seyferts obscured by dense circumnuclear material. The galaxies are part of a distance-limited sample of 31 Seyfert 2s, for which spectropolarimetric observations are now complete. Combined with published reports, our results indicate that at least 11 of the galaxies in this sample, or ≥35%, possess hidden broad-line regions. As the first reliable estimate of the frequency of polarized broad emission lines in type 2 Seyfert galaxies, this has important implications for the general applicability of Seyfert unification models.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE FIRST “CHANGING LOOK” QUASAR: NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE PHYSICS AND PHENOMENOLOGY OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

SDSS J015957.64+003310.5 is an X-ray selected,

Three LINERs under the Chandra X-Ray Microscope

z=0.31

Polarized broad-line emission from low-luminosity active galactic nuclei

AGN from the Stripe 82X survey that transitioned from a Type 1 quasar to a Type 1.9 AGN between 2000 and 2010. This is the most distant AGN, and first quasar, yet observed to have undergone such a dramatic change. We re-observed the source with the double spectrograph on the Palomar 5m telescope in July 2014 and found that the spectrum is unchanged since 2010. From fitting the optical spectra, we find that the AGN flux dropped by a factor of 6 between 2000 and 2010 while the broad H

A Black Hole in the X-Ray Nova Velorum 1993

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The Central Engines of 19 LINERs as Viewed by Chandra

emission faded and broadened. Serendipitous X-ray observations caught the source in both the bright and dim state, showing a similar 2-10 keV flux diminution as the optical while lacking signatures of obscuration. The optical and X-ray changes coincide with

The Transitional Stripped-Envelope SN 2008ax: Spectral Evolution and Evidence for Large Asphericity

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