Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21543323d&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #433.23; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.373
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
To infer the still not well known structure of the inner region of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), it is of great importance to measure the size of the closely related line emitting region, the Broad-Line Region (BLR), estimating super-massive black hole masses, and determining physical conditions. The study and thorough analysis of AGN variability has been proven to be a powerful tool to achieve those goals. The correlated and delayed response of broad emission line fluxes, e.g. of Ha6563, Hb4861, HeI5876, HeII4686 in the optical and of Lya1216, CIV1549, HeII1640 in the ultraviolet, to variations of the continuum flux strength provide a direct measurement of the size of the BLR and the mass of the black hole. We will present results of an optical monitoring campaign for 3C390.3 which was done in 2007 using the 2.4m Hiltner Telescope at MDM Observatory. Optical spectra which cover the entire optical domain and g-band imaging were obtained. The optical continuum varied with an amplitude of about 10%. Integrated emission line flux variations are measured for Ha6563, Hb4861, Hg4340, HeI5876, HeII4686. Applying reverberation mapping analysis we find that the emission line variations are delayed with respect to the variable continuum by about t = 50 days. In addition, we will present results on the properties of the double-peaked profiles and their variability characteristics. Compared to the state in 1994, 3C390.3 was brighter by about a factor of about 4 in 2007 and most remarkably, the blue hump in the double-peaked Balmer emission line profiles has been in an unprecedented strong state and is currently fading.
This work has been supported by the NSF through grant AST-0604066.
Dietrich Matthias
Grier Catherine
Peterson Bradley. M.
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