| Title: |
THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN: X-RAYS DRIVE THE UV THROUGH NIR VARIABILITY IN THE 2013 ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS OUTBURST IN NGC 2617 |
| Authors: |
Shappee, BJ; Prieto, JL; Grupe, D; Kochanek, CS; Stanek, KZ; De Rosa, G; Mathur, S; Zu, Y; Peterson, BM; Pogge, RW; Komossa, S; Im, M; Jencson, J; Holoien, TW-S; Basu, U; Beacom, JF; Szczygieł, DM; Brimacombe, J; Adams, S; Campillay, A; Choi, C; Contreras, C; Dietrich, M; Dubberley, M; Elphick, M; Foale, S; Giustini, M; Gonzalez, C; Hawkins, E; Howell, DA; Hsiao, EY; Koss, M; Leighly, KM; Morrell, N; Mudd, D; Mullins, D; Nugent, JM; Parrent, J; Phillips, MM; Pojmanski, G; Rosing, W; Ross, R; Sand, D; Terndrup, DM; Valenti, S; Walker, Z; Yoon, Y |
| Source: |
The Astrophysical Journal, vol 788, iss 1 |
| Publisher Information: |
eScholarship, University of California |
| Publication Year: |
2014 |
| Collection: |
University of California: eScholarship |
| Subject Terms: |
galaxies&COLFAML active; galaxies&COLFAML nuclei; galaxies&COLFAML Seyfert; line&COLFAML formation; line&COLFAML profiles; astro-ph.HE; astro-ph.CO; Astronomical and Space Sciences; Atomic; Molecular; Nuclear; Particle and Plasma Physics; Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural); Astronomy & Astrophysics |
| Description: |
After the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae discovered a significant brightening of the inner region of NGC 2617, we began a ∼70 day photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaign from the X-ray through near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. We report that NGC 2617 went through a dramatic outburst, during which its X-ray flux increased by over an order of magnitude followed by an increase of its optical/ultraviolet (UV) continuum flux by almost an order of magnitude. NGC 2617, classified as a Seyfert 1.8 galaxy in 2003, is now a Seyfert 1 due to the appearance of broad optical emission lines and a continuum blue bump. Such "changing look active galactic nuclei (AGNs)" are rare and provide us with important insights about AGN physics. Based on the Hβ line width and the radius-luminosity relation, we estimate the mass of central black hole (BH) to be (4 ± 1) × 107 M . When we cross-correlate the light curves, we find that the disk emission lags the X-rays, with the lag becoming longer as we move from the UV (2-3 days) to the NIR (6-9 days). Also, the NIR is more heavily temporally smoothed than the UV. This can largely be explained by a simple model of a thermally emitting thin disk around a BH of the estimated mass that is illuminated by the observed, variable X-ray fluxes. © 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
application/pdf |
| Language: |
unknown |
| Relation: |
qt47g3f3zp; https://escholarship.org/uc/item/47g3f3zp; https://escholarship.org/content/qt47g3f3zp/qt47g3f3zp.pdf |
| DOI: |
10.1088/0004-637x/788/1/48 |
| Availability: |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/47g3f3zp; https://escholarship.org/content/qt47g3f3zp/qt47g3f3zp.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/788/1/48 |
| Rights: |
CC-BY |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.704E5A |
| Database: |
BASE |