Active Galactic Nuclei : I

Keith Arnaud
NASA Goddard
University of Maryland

COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003

 AGN Overview

o First identified as bright (blue) point-like emission from the

centers of some galaxies. Now characterized in most cases by
strong optical emission lines from photoionized material.
o Come in a bewildering number of types - Quasars, Seyfert 1,
Seyfert 2, Bl Lac, Liner, NLAGN, NLSy1, BLRG,…
o Powered by accretion onto a supermassive (106-108 Mo) black
hole (other processes may also be significant).
o Seen both near (our Galactic Center) and far (z > 6).
o Excellent background light sources - Ly alpha forest,
gravitational lenses,…

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Spectrum of Mkn 421

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Takahashi et al. 1998
 Fundamental Questions

o Where does the emission come from and how is accretion

energy converted to radiation.
o Why are there so many different types of AGN and how are
they related. Is there a unified model ? Can we draw an H-R
diagram for AGN ?
o What is the relationship between the massive black hole
(MBH) and the host galaxy ? Which forms first and what causes
the excellent correlation between black hole mass and bulge
velocity dispersion.
o Do all galaxies have MBH ? If so, why are they not all AGN ?
How long does AGN activity last ? What is the connection with
starbursts ?
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o Is G.R. correct in the vicinity of a MBH ? The strong gravity
limit.
o Why do some AGN have jets ? What are jets made of ? What
powers and collimates them ?

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 The importance of X-ray observations

o AGN are easy to find in X-rays. Away from the Galactic plane
most X-ray sources are AGN. Many X-ray selected AGN show
weak or no optical signatures.
o X-rays come from very close to the MBH. The most rapid
variability is seen in X-rays.
o The only spectral lines observed that come from close to the
MBH are in the X-ray band. The strongest line is from Fe at ~6.4
keV but other lines have been observed.
o All types of AGN are strong X-ray sources.
o We can “X-ray” the material around AGN using the emission
from close to the MBH as a background source.
COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003
Blazar

Sy 2

Schematic view
Disk Torus
of AGN central
engine

Narrow line region

Broad line region

Jet Padovani & Urry 1995

Sy 1 COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003
 X-ray emission
from around
the MBH

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 Reflection and Fluorescence

o The MBH is surrounded by an accretion disk. Suppose that X-

rays are generated above the disk.
• We observe some photons directly.
• Others hit the accretion disk. Some are reflected. Some eject
an inner shell electron from an atom to give fluorescent line
emission.

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 NGC 4945

direct
fluorescence

reflected

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Madejski et al. 2000
Reflected X-ray Spectra

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 Reflection
from neutral
slab

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Reflection from an ionized slab

Increasing
ionization

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 Reflection and Fluorescence

o The MBH is surrounded by an accretion disk. Suppose that X-

rays are generated above the disk.
• We observe some photons directly.
• Others hit the accretion disk. Some are reflected. Some eject
an inner shell electron from an atom to give fluorescent line
emission.
o X-rays from parts of the disk moving towards us are blue-
shifted due to Doppler and red-shifted due to gravity. Emission
from regions moving away from us is red-shifted by both effects.
• We see a line with a red wing. The shape depends on the
disk inclination and distribution of X-ray emission over the
disk. COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003
 ASCA
observation of
MCG 6-30-15

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Fluorescence line from disk
around Kerr black hole

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Effect of changing emission
profile of disk

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Effect of changing black hole spin

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The effect of MBH spin

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ASCA 1994 and 1997 observations

Time-averaged

Snapshot

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Chandra observation of NGC 5548

COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003 Yaqoob et al. 2001

Location of Fe K line in NGC 5548

Line origin is outer

BLR or molecular
torus.

Yaqoob et al. 2001; BLR

results from Peterson &
COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003 Wandel 1999
Comparison of ASCA and Chandra

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 Narrow
Fe-K lines
with
Chandra

Padmanabhan &
COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003 Yaqoob 2002
Complex Fe line in NGC 5506

Neutral line

Ionized line

COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003 Matt et al. 2001

XMM observations of Sy 1

COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003 Reeves 2002

More Sy 1s from XMM

COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003 Reeves 2002

 Mkn 841 narrow
line variability

15 hours later

Petrucci et al. 2002

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 XMM
observation
of MCG 6-
30-15
Requires emission
peaked near MBH

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Wilms et al. 2001
Mean profile from XMM
MCG 6-30-15 “long look”

Fabian et al. 2002

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 Difference
between bright
and faint spectra
of MCG 6-30-15

Line varies with

continuum.

Fabian et al. 2002 COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003

 Chandra and XMM
observation of NGC
3516
Turner et al. 2002 COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003
 Model for
NGC 3516

Turner et al. 2002

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Flares above the accretion disk

COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003 Reynolds & Young

 Fe K line results from Chandra and XMM

o The Chandra HETG can resolve narrow (few 1000 km/s) lines.
• A narrow line is seen in many objects. This must be
subtracted from the broad line when using the line shape to
estimate disk parameters.
• NGC 5548 : line width => origin in either BLR or the
molecular torus.
• A systematic analysis (in progress) finds broad lines
consistent with earlier results using ASCA.

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oXMM-Newton has observed emission from highly ionized iron
in several sources.
• Probably from photo-ionized gas (BLR?). It is not clear how
common this is.
o XMM-Newton observations of MCG-6-30-15 show a very
relativistically broadened line.
• Wilms et al. claim that most of the emission must come
from close to the MBH and this is not possible with standard
accretion disk models.
• The line may be powered by magnetic extraction of MBH
spin energy (Penrose effect).

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o In MCG-60-30-15 (at least) the iron line does not lag the
continuum as would be predicted by simple reflection models.
• If the emission comes from very close to the MBH then we
do not expect a simple relation between line and continuum.

o Joint Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of NGC 3516

find evidence for sharp line-like features within the broad line.
• Lines may be due to flares covering small sections of the
disk.

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 What is required next
o Systematic studies of Fe lines from many objects with both
Chandra HETG and XMM-Newton EPIC.
o Longer observations to study time variability.
o High resolution spectroscopy at Fe K energies with higher
sensitivity than available with the Chandra HETG (Astro-E2).
o Observations extending to higher energies - we need to
accurately measure the continuum and determine the amount of
reflected emission (Chandra+RXTE, Astrosat).

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COSPAR Workshop, Udaipur 2003