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Title: THE SUDDEN DEATH OF THE NEAREST QUASAR

Abstract

Galaxy formation is significantly modulated by energy output from supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies which grow in highly efficient luminous quasar phases. The timescale on which black holes transition into and out of such phases is, however, unknown. We present the first measurement of the shutdown timescale for an individual quasar using X-ray observations of the nearby galaxy IC 2497, which hosted a luminous quasar no more than 70,000 years ago that is still seen as a light echo in 'Hanny's Voorwerp', but whose present-day radiative output is lower by at least two, and more likely by over four, orders of magnitude. This extremely rapid shutdown provides new insight into the physics of accretion in supermassive black holes and may signal a transition of the accretion disk to a radiatively inefficient state.

Authors:
; ; ; ;  [1];  [2]; ;  [3]; ;  [4];  [5]; ; ;  [6];  [7];  [8]
  1. Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States)
  2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama, P.O. Box 870324, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 (United States)
  4. Astrophysics Department, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)
  5. Centre for Astronomy and Particle Theory, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom)
  6. Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo (Netherlands)
  7. Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL 62026 (United States)
  8. School of Physics and Astronomy, 116 Church Street S. E., University of Minnesota/Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21452673
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 724; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/724/1/L30; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-8205
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ACCRETION DISKS; BLACK HOLES; GALAXIES; QUASARS; X RADIATION; COSMIC RADIO SOURCES; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION; IONIZING RADIATIONS; RADIATIONS

Citation Formats

Schawinski, Kevin, Virani, Shanil, Megan Urry, C, Natarajan, Priyamvada, Coppi, Paolo, Evans, Daniel A, Keel, William C, Manning, Anna, Lintott, Chris J, Kaviraj, Sugata, Bamford, Steven P, Jozsa, Gyula I. G., Garrett, Michael, Van Arkel, Hanny, Gay, Pamela, and Fortson, Lucy. THE SUDDEN DEATH OF THE NEAREST QUASAR. United States: N. p., 2010. Web. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/724/1/L30.
Schawinski, Kevin, Virani, Shanil, Megan Urry, C, Natarajan, Priyamvada, Coppi, Paolo, Evans, Daniel A, Keel, William C, Manning, Anna, Lintott, Chris J, Kaviraj, Sugata, Bamford, Steven P, Jozsa, Gyula I. G., Garrett, Michael, Van Arkel, Hanny, Gay, Pamela, & Fortson, Lucy. THE SUDDEN DEATH OF THE NEAREST QUASAR. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/724/1/L30
Schawinski, Kevin, Virani, Shanil, Megan Urry, C, Natarajan, Priyamvada, Coppi, Paolo, Evans, Daniel A, Keel, William C, Manning, Anna, Lintott, Chris J, Kaviraj, Sugata, Bamford, Steven P, Jozsa, Gyula I. G., Garrett, Michael, Van Arkel, Hanny, Gay, Pamela, and Fortson, Lucy. 2010. "THE SUDDEN DEATH OF THE NEAREST QUASAR". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/724/1/L30.
@article{osti_21452673,
title = {THE SUDDEN DEATH OF THE NEAREST QUASAR},
author = {Schawinski, Kevin and Virani, Shanil and Megan Urry, C and Natarajan, Priyamvada and Coppi, Paolo and Evans, Daniel A and Keel, William C and Manning, Anna and Lintott, Chris J and Kaviraj, Sugata and Bamford, Steven P and Jozsa, Gyula I. G. and Garrett, Michael and Van Arkel, Hanny and Gay, Pamela and Fortson, Lucy},
abstractNote = {Galaxy formation is significantly modulated by energy output from supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies which grow in highly efficient luminous quasar phases. The timescale on which black holes transition into and out of such phases is, however, unknown. We present the first measurement of the shutdown timescale for an individual quasar using X-ray observations of the nearby galaxy IC 2497, which hosted a luminous quasar no more than 70,000 years ago that is still seen as a light echo in 'Hanny's Voorwerp', but whose present-day radiative output is lower by at least two, and more likely by over four, orders of magnitude. This extremely rapid shutdown provides new insight into the physics of accretion in supermassive black holes and may signal a transition of the accretion disk to a radiatively inefficient state.},
doi = {10.1088/2041-8205/724/1/L30},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21452673}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal Letters},
issn = {2041-8205},
number = 1,
volume = 724,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2010},
month = {Sat Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2010}
}