THE LICK AGN MONITORING PROJECT: BROAD-LINE REGION RADII AND BLACK HOLE MASSES FROM REVERBERATION MAPPING OF Hbeta

Journal Article · Sun Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 2009 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/705/1/199· OSTI ID:21378412

Bentz, Misty C; Walsh, Jonelle L; Barth, Aaron J ^[1]; Baliber, Nairn; Bennert, Vardha Nicola; Greene, Jenny E; Hidas, Marton G ^[2]; Canalizo, Gabriela; Hiner, Kyle D ^[3]; Filippenko, Alexei V; Ganeshalingam, Mohan; Lee, Nicholas; Li, Weidong; Serduke, Frank J. D.; Silverman, Jeffrey M; Steele, Thea N ^[4]; Gates, Elinor L ^[5]; Malkan, Matthew A ^[6]; Minezaki, Takeo; Sakata, Yu ^[7]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States)
2. Physics Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)
3. Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521 (United States)
4. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)
5. Lick Observatory, P.O. Box 85, Mount Hamilton, CA 95140 (United States)
6. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (United States)
7. Institute of Astronomy, School of Science, University of Tokyo, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015 (Japan)

We have recently completed a 64-night spectroscopic monitoring campaign at the Lick Observatory 3-m Shane telescope with the aim of measuring the masses of the black holes in 12 nearby (z < 0.05) Seyfert 1 galaxies with expected masses in the range approx10{sup 6}-10{sup 7} M {sub sun} and also the well-studied nearby active galactic nucleus (AGN) NGC 5548. Nine of the objects in the sample (including NGC 5548) showed optical variability of sufficient strength during the monitoring campaign to allow for a time lag to be measured between the continuum fluctuations and the response to these fluctuations in the broad Hbeta emission. We present here the light curves for all the objects in this sample and the subsequent Hbeta time lags for the nine objects where these measurements were possible. The Hbeta lag time is directly related to the size of the broad-line region (BLR) in AGNs, and by combining the Hbeta lag time with the measured width of the Hbeta emission line in the variable part of the spectrum, we determine the virial mass of the central supermassive black hole in these nine AGNs. The absolute calibration of the black hole masses is based on the normalization derived by Onken et al., which brings the masses determined by reverberation mapping into agreement with the local M {sub BH}-sigma{sub *}relationship for quiescent galaxies. We also examine the time lag response as a function of velocity across the Hbeta line profile for six of the AGNs. The analysis of four leads to rather ambiguous results with relatively flat time lags as a function of velocity. However, SBS 1116+583A exhibits a symmetric time lag response around the line center reminiscent of simple models for circularly orbiting BLR clouds, and Arp 151 shows an asymmetric profile that is most easily explained by a simple gravitational infall model. Further investigation will be necessary to fully understand the constraints placed on the physical models of the BLR by the velocity-resolved response in these objects.

• OSTI ID: 21378412
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 705; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASYMMETRY
BLACK HOLES
CALIBRATION
GALAXIES
GALAXY NUCLEI
MASS
TELESCOPES