Shock formation of the broad emission-line regions in QSOs and active galactic nuclei

Details Shock formation of the broad emission-line regions in QSOs and active galactic nuclei Shock formation of the broad emission-line regions in QSOs and active galactic nuclei

Apr 1985

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1985mnras.213..665p&link_type=abstract

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (ISSN 0035-8711), vol. 213, April 1, 1985, p. 665-710.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

132

Active Galactic Nuclei, Astronomical Models, Emission Spectra, Quasars, Shock Waves, Spectral Line Width, Gas Flow, Inverse Scattering, Line Spectra, Radiant Cooling, Supernovae, Supersonic Flow, Thermal Stability

Scientific paper

The authors present a model for the formation of the BLR (broad emission-line regions) of QSOs and AGNs which accounts simultaneously for the formation, structure and velocities of the clouds. These emerge as a natural consequence of the interaction of optically thin supersonic flows with the dense stellar cluster which is assumed to exist in the immediate circumquasar environment. Low density gas near a very luminous source must be hot with Te ≈ 107-108K. So long as such gas flows supersonically, stand-off shocks inevitably form around all obstacles to the flow. The high-pressure, superheated gas in the shocked layer cools rapidly by inverse-Compton cooling off the radiation field. If the obstacles are large enough so that the flow time around them is longer than the cooling time, cold condensations - which are identified with the BLR clouds - form in the shocked gas. Both supernovae shells and groups of stars with strong stellar winds are shown to provide such cooling obstacles. The clouds are continuously generated and need no external confinement mechanism.

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