Revealing the Hidden Broad Line Region in AGN Using Reverberation Mapping

34 Pages·2015·2.01 MB·English

by  Anna Pancoast

Revealing the Hidden
Broad Line Region in AGN
Using Reverberation Mapping
Anna Pancoast
(Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory)
Brendon Brewer (U. Auckland) and Tommaso Treu (UCLA)
+ LAMP 2008 collaboration
October 28, 2015 – Einstein Fellows Symposium
Black holes in active galaxies
No hard distance limit
●
on measuring M in
BH
active galactic nuclei
(AGN).
Measure M by
●
BH
constraining properties
of the gas orbiting
around the black hole in
the broad line region
(BLR).

Credit: C.M. Urry and P. Padovani
Anna Pancoast, CfA
Black holes in active galaxies
No hard distance limit
●
on measuring M in
BH
active galactic nuclei
(AGN).
Measure M by
●
BH
constraining properties
of the gas orbiting
around the black hole in
the broad line region
(BLR).

Credit: C.M. Urry and P. Padovani
Anna Pancoast, CfA
Reverberation mapping
Broad line
region gas
Black hole
Accretion disk

Anna Pancoast, CfA
Reverberation mapping
Broad line
region gas
Black hole
Accretion disk
Ionizing photons
to the observer

Anna Pancoast, CfA
Reverberation mapping
Ionizing photons to
Broad line
broad line region gas
region gas
Black hole
Accretion disk
Ionizing photons
to the observer

Anna Pancoast, CfA
Reverberation mapping
Ionizing photons to
Broad line
broad line region gas
region gas
Black hole
Accretion disk
Broad line Ionizing photons
flux to the to the observer
observer

Anna Pancoast, CfA
Reverberation mapping
τ
Continuum emission from
accretion disk
x Broad line flux
u
l
F
Time

Anna Pancoast, CfA
Reverberation mapping
x
u v
l
F
Velocity of gas from the
●
width of the broad
Wavelength emission line.

Anna Pancoast, CfA
Reverberation mapping
x
u v
l
F
Velocity of gas from the
●
width of the broad
Wavelength emission line.
τ
Radius of the gas by
●
Continuum emission measuring time lag
from accretion disk between continuum and
broad line flux changes.
x
Broad line flux
u
l
F
Time

Anna Pancoast, CfA