Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2008-11-20
Astrophys.J.695:793-797,2009
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
6 pages 4 figures accepted for publication in ApJ
Scientific paper
10.1088/0004-637X/695/1/793
The distributions of L(oiii 5007), black hole (BH) mass and L/L(Edd) in two large samples of type-I and type-II active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are compared in order to test the suggestion that radiation pressure force is affecting the gas velocity in the broad line region and hence the BH mass determination. The samples are drawn from the SDSS archive and are modified to represent the same parent distribution at 0.1 < z < 0.2. BH masses in type-I sources are calculated in two different ways, one using a simple virial mass assumption and the other by taking into account the effect of radiation pressure force on the gas. The simple virial mass estimate results in good agreement with the sigma*-based BH mass and L/L(Edd) estimates in type-II sources. In contrast, there is a clear disagreement in the L/L(Edd) distributions when radiation pressure-based estimates are used. This indicates that radiation pressure force is not important in 0.1 < z < 0.2 AGNs with L(5100)=10^{42.8-44.8} erg/s. This has important implications to the physics of the gas producing the broad emission lines in AGNs, in particular the existence of extremely large (about 10^24 cm^(-2)) column density clouds.
No associations
LandOfFree
Radiation pressure force and black hole mass determination in low redshift type-I and type-II active galactic nuclei does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Radiation pressure force and black hole mass determination in low redshift type-I and type-II active galactic nuclei, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Radiation pressure force and black hole mass determination in low redshift type-I and type-II active galactic nuclei will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-667592