Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...20922302b&link_type=abstract
2007 AAS/AAPT Joint Meeting, American Astronomical Society Meeting 209, #223.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society,
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We more accurately quantify the relationship between the size of the broad-line region (BLR) and the luminosity in active galactic nuclei. The radius-luminosity (R-L) relationship is the fundamental basis for estimating the masses of AGNs, such as distant quasars, where direct mass measurements cannot be performed. As such, it is crucial that our calibration of the R-L relationship be as accurate as possible to mitigate the effects of systematic errors in mass estimates. We account for host-galaxy contamination in luminosity measurements of reverberation-mapped AGN using images from the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Channel. The images were fit with 2-dimensional models of a disk, bulge, and central point spread function (PSF). A PSF-subtracted image was then created, from which we calculated the host galaxy starlight contribution at 5100 Å through the ground-based monitoring aperture geometry. The host-galaxy starlight contribution was then subtracted from the spectroscopic luminosity noted for each object during its ground-based monitoring campaign. Additionally, we have carried out a new reverberation-mapping campaign at MDM Observatory to replace earlier inadequate BLR radius measurements for NGC 4151, and NGC 4593, two objects that were initially studied in the early days of monitoring campaigns where the timescales and data requirements were not yet fully understood. We have recalibrated the radius-luminosity relationship by including host-galaxy starlight corrections to the spectroscopic luminosity and new measurements for the radius of the BLR in these two objects. We find a power law slope of 0.5, a much shallower slope than has previously been found, and consistent with naïve expectations from simple photoionization arguments. This recalibration has an especially large effect on mass estimates at the low mass end.
Bentz Misty C.
Peterson Bradley. M.
Pogge Richard W.
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