ON THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE BROAD-LINE REGION IN LOW-LUMINOSITY ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Journal Article · Thu Aug 20 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Astrophysical Journal (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/701/2/L91; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)· OSTI ID:21319542

Elitzur, Moshe ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0055 (United States)

The disk-wind scenario for the broad-line region (BLR) and toroidal obscuration in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) predicts the disappearance of the BLR at low luminosities. In accordance with the model predictions, data from a nearly complete sample of nearby AGNs show that the BLR disappears at luminosities lower than 5 x 10{sup 39}(M/10{sup 7} M{sub sun}){sup 2/3} ergs{sup -1}, where M is the black hole mass. The radiative efficiency of accretion onto the black hole is {approx}<10{sup -3} for these sources, indicating that their accretion is advection-dominated.

• OSTI ID: 21319542
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 701, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/701/2/L91; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-4357
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ACCRETION DISKS
ADVECTION
BLACK HOLES
GALAXIES
GALAXY NUCLEI
LUMINOSITY
MASS
QUASARS