THE LICK AGN MONITORING PROJECT 2011: REVERBERATION MAPPING OF MARKARIAN 50

Journal Article · Sat Dec 10 04:00:00 EST 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/743/1/L4· OSTI ID:22047319

Barth, Aaron J; Thorman, Shawn J ^[1]; Pancoast, Anna; Bennert, Vardha N; Sand, David J; Treu, Tommaso; Brewer, Brendon J ^[2]; Li, Weidong; Filippenko, Alexei V; Cenko, S Bradley; Clubb, Kelsey I ^[3]; Canalizo, Gabriela ^[4]; Gates, Elinor L ^[5]; Greene, Jenny E ^[6]; Malkan, Matthew A ^[7]; Stern, Daniel; Assef, Roberto J ^[8]; Woo, Jong-Hak ^[9]; Bae, Hyun-Jin ^[10]; Buehler, Tabitha ^[11] ; others, and

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-4575 (United States)
2. Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)
3. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)
4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521 (United States)
5. Lick Observatory, P.O. Box 85, Mount Hamilton, CA 95140 (United States)
6. Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
7. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547 (United States)
8. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
9. Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of)
10. Department of Astronomy and Center for Galaxy Evolution Research, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of)
11. Department of Physics and Astronomy, N283 ESC, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602-4360 (United States)

The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011 observing campaign was carried out over the course of 11 weeks in spring 2011. Here we present the first results from this program, a measurement of the broad-line reverberation lag in the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 50. Combining our data with supplemental observations obtained prior to the start of the main observing campaign, our data set covers a total duration of 4.5 months. During this time, Mrk 50 was highly variable, exhibiting a maximum variability amplitude of a factor of {approx}4 in the U-band continuum and a factor of {approx}2 in the H{beta} line. Using standard cross-correlation techniques, we find that H{beta} and H{gamma} lag the V-band continuum by {tau}{sub cen} = 10.64{sup +0.82}{sub -0.93} and 8.43{sup +1.30}{sub -1.28} days, respectively, while the lag of He II {lambda}4686 is unresolved. The H{beta} line exhibits a symmetric velocity-resolved reverberation signature with shorter lags in the high-velocity wings than in the line core, consistent with an origin in a broad-line region (BLR) dominated by orbital motion rather than infall or outflow. Assuming a virial normalization factor of f = 5.25, the virial estimate of the black hole mass is (3.2 {+-} 0.5) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 7} M{sub Sun }. These observations demonstrate that Mrk 50 is among the most promising nearby active galaxies for detailed investigations of BLR structure and dynamics.

• OSTI ID: 22047319
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 743; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
AMPLITUDES
ASTROPHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
CORRELATIONS
GALAXY NUCLEI
MAPPING
MARKARIAN GALAXIES
MASS
MONITORING
SYMMETRY
VELOCITY