Browsing by Author "Mushotzky, Richard"

Now showing 1 - 19 of 19
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    A population of luminous accreting black holes with hidden mergers
    (2018) Koss, Michael J.; Blecha, Laura; Bernhard, Phillip; Hung, Chao-Ling; Lu, Jessica R.; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Treister, Ezequiel; Weigel, Anna; Sartori, Lia F.; Mushotzky, Richard; Schawinski, Kevin; Ricci, Claudio; Veilleux, Sylvain; Sanders, David B.
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    BASS XXXIX: Swift-BAT AGN with changing-look optical spectra
    (2023) Temple, Matthew J.; Ricci, Claudio; Koss, Michael J.; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Bauer, Franz E.; Mushotzky, Richard; Rojas, Alejandra F.; Caglar, Turgay; Harrison, Fiona; Oh, Kyuseok; Gonzalez, Estefania Padilla; Powell, Meredith C.; Ricci, Federica; Riffel, Rogerio; Stern, Daniel; Urry, C. Megan
    Changing-look (CL) AGN are unique probes of accretion onto supermassive black holes (SMBHs), especially when simultaneous observations in complementary wavebands allow investigations into the properties of their accretion flows. We present the results of a search for CL behaviour in 412 Swift-BAT detected AGN with multiple epochs of optical spectroscopy from the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS). 125 of these AGN also have 14-195 keV ultra-hard X-ray light curves from Swift-BAT which are contemporaneous with the epochs of optical spectroscopy. Eight CL events are presented for the first time, where the appearance or disappearance of broad Balmer line emission leads to a change in the observed Seyfert type classification. Combining with known events from the literature, 21 AGN from BASS are now known to display CL behaviour. Nine CL events have 14-195 keV data available, and five of these CL events can be associated with significant changes in their 14-195 keV flux from BAT. The ultra-hard X-ray flux is less affected by obscuration and so these changes in the 14-195 keV band suggest that the majority of our CL events are not due to changes in line-of-sight obscuration. We derive a CL rate of 0.7-6.2 per cent on 10-25 yr time-scales, and show that many transitions happen within at most a few years. Our results motivate further multiwavelength observations with higher cadence to better understand the variability physics of accretion onto SMBHs.
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    BASS-XL: X-ray variability properties of unobscured active galactic nuclei
    (2023) Tortosa, Alessia; Ricci, Claudio; Arevalo, Patricia; Koss, Michael J.; Bauer, Franz E.; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Mushotzky, Richard; Temple, Matthew J.; Ricci, Federica; Lilayu, Alejandra Rojas; Kawamuro, Taiki; Caglar, Turgay; Liu, Tingting; Harrison, Fiona; Oh, Kyuseok; Powell, Meredith Clark; Stern, Daniel; Urry, Claudia Megan
    We investigate the X-ray variability properties of Seyfert 1 Galaxies belonging to the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS). The sample includes 151 unobscured (N-H < 10(22) cm(-2)) AGNs observed with XMM-Newton for a total exposure time of similar to 27 ms, representing the deepest variability study done so far with high signal-to-noise XMM-Newton observations, almost doubling the number of observations analysed in previous works. We constrain the relation between the normalized excess variance and the 2-10 keV AGN luminosities, black hole masses, and Eddington ratios. We find a highly significant correlation between sigma(2)(NXS) and M-BH, with a scatter of similar to 0.85 dex. For sources with high L2-10 this correlation has a lower normalization, confirming that more luminous (higher mass) AGNs show less variability. We explored the sigma(2)(NXS) versus M-BH relation for the sub-sample of sources with M-BH estimated via the 'reverberation mapping' technique, finding a tighter anticorrelation, with a scatter of similar to 0.65 dex. We examine how the sigma(2)(NXS) changes with energy by studying the relation between the variability in the hard (3-10 keV) and the soft (0.2-1 keV)/medium (1-3 keV) energy bands, finding that the spectral components dominating the hard energy band are more variable than the spectral components dominating in softer energy bands, on time-scales shorter than 10 ks.
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    BASS. XXIV. The BASS DR2 Spectroscopic Line Measurements and AGN Demographics
    (2022) Oh, Kyuseok; Koss, Michael J.; Ueda, Yoshihiro; Stern, Daniel; Ricci, Claudio; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Powell, Meredith C.; den Brok, Jakob S.; Lamperti, Isabella; Mushotzky, Richard; Ricci, Federica; Bar, Rudolf E.; Rojas, Alejandra F.; Ichikawa, Kohei; Riffel, Rogerio; Treister, Ezequiel; Harrison, Fiona; Urry, C. Megan; Bauer, Franz E.; Schawinski, Kevin
    We present the second catalog and data release of optical spectral line measurements and active galactic nucleus (AGN) demographics of the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey, which focuses on the Swift-BAT hard X-ray detected AGNs. We use spectra from dedicated campaigns and publicly available archives to investigate spectral properties of most of the AGNs listed in the 70 month Swift-BAT all-sky catalog; specifically, 743 of the 746 unbeamed and unlensed AGNs (99.6%). We find a good correspondence between the optical emission line widths and the hydrogen column density distributions using the X-ray spectra, with a clear dichotomy of AGN types for N (H) = 10(22) cm(-2). Based on optical emission-line diagnostics, we show that 48%-75% of BAT AGNs are classified as Seyfert, depending on the choice of emission lines used in the diagnostics. The fraction of objects with upper limits on line emission varies from 6% to 20%. Roughly 4% of the BAT AGNs have lines too weak to be placed on the most commonly used diagnostic diagram, [O iii]lambda 5007/H beta versus [N ii]lambda 6584/H alpha, despite the high signal-to-noise ratio of their spectra. This value increases to 35% in the [O iii]lambda 5007/[O ii]lambda 3727 diagram, owing to difficulties in line detection. Compared to optically selected narrow-line AGNs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the BAT narrow-line AGNs have a higher rate of reddening/extinction, with H alpha/H beta > 5 (similar to 36%), indicating that hard X-ray selection more effectively detects obscured AGNs from the underlying AGN population. Finally, we present a subpopulation of AGNs that feature complex broad lines (34%, 250/743) or double-peaked narrow emission lines (2%, 17/743).
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    BASS. XXIX. The Near-infrared View of the Broad-line Region (BLR): The Effects of Obscuration in BLR Characterization
    (2022) Ricci, Federica ; Treister, Ezequiel ; Bauer, Franz E.; Mejía-Restrepo, Julian E. ; Koss, Michael J. ; den Brok, Jakob S. ; Baloković, Mislav ; Bär, Rudolf ; Bessiere, Patricia ; Caglar, Turgay ; Harrison, Fiona ; Ichikawa, Kohei ; Kakkad, Darshan; Lamperti, Isabella ; Mushotzky, Richard ; Oh, Kyuseok ; Powell, Meredith C. ; Privon, George C. ; Ricci, Claudio ; Riffel, Rogerio ; Rojas, Alejandra F. ; Sani, Eleonora ; Smith, Krista L. ; Stern, Daniel ; Trakhtenbrot, Benny ; Urry, C. Megan ; Veilleux, Sylvain
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    BASS. XXV. DR2 Broad-line-based Black Hole Mass Estimates and Biases from Obscuration
    (2022) Mejía-Restrepo, Julian E.; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Koss, Michael J.; Oh, Kyuseok; den Brok, Jakob; Stern, Daniel; Powell, Meredith C.; Ricci, Federica; Caglar, Turgay; Ricci, Claudio; Bauer, Franz Erik; Treister , Ezequiel; Harrison, Fiona A.; Urry, C. M.; Ananna, Tonima Tasnim; Asmus, Daniel; Assef, Roberto J.; Bär, Rudolf E.; Bessiere, Patricia S.; Burtscher, Leonard; Ichikawa, Kohei; Kakkad, Darshan; Kamraj, Nikita; Mushotzky, Richard; Privon, George C.; Rojas, Alejandra F.; Sani, Eleonora; Schawinski, Kevin; Veilleux, Sylvain
    We present measurements of broad emission lines and virial estimates of supermassive black hole masses (M _{BH} ) for a large sample of ultrahard X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs) as part of the second data release of the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS/DR2). Our catalog includes M _{BH} estimates for a total of 689 AGNs, determined from the Hα, Hβ, Mg II λ2798, and/or C_{IV} λ1549 broad emission lines. The core sample includes a total of 512 AGNs drawn from the 70 month Swift/BAT all-sky catalog. We also provide measurements for 177 additional AGNs that are drawn from deeper Swift/BAT survey data. We study the links between M _{BH} estimates and line-of-sight obscuration measured from X-ray spectral analysis. We find that broad Hα emission lines in obscured AGNs (Log(N_{H} / cm^{-2} > 22.0) are on average a factor of 8.0_{-2.4}^{+4.1} weaker relative to ultrahard X-ray emission and about 35_{-12}^{,+7} % narrower than those in unobscured sources (i.e.(Log(N_{H} / cm^{-2} > 21.5). This indicates that the innermost part of the broad-line region is preferentially absorbed. Consequently, current single-epoch M _{BH} prescriptions result in severely underestimated (>1 dex) masses for Type 1.9 sources (AGNs with broad Hα but no broad Hβ) and/or sources with Log(N_{H} / cm^{-2} >= 22.0 . We provide simple multiplicative corrections for the observed luminosity and width of the broad Hα component (LbHα and FWHMbHα) in such sources to account for this effect and to (partially) remedy M _{BH} estimates for Type 1.9 objects. As a key ingredient of BASS/DR2, our work provides the community with the data needed to further study powerful AGNs in the low-redshift universe.
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    BASS. XXVI. DR2 Host Galaxy Stellar Velocity Dispersions
    (2022) Koss, Michael J.; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Ricci, Claudio; Oh, Kyuseok; Bauer, Franz E.; Stern, Daniel; Caglar, Turgay; den Brok, Jakob S.; Mushotzky, Richard; Ricci, Federica; Mejia-Restrepo, Julian E.; Lamperti, Isabella; Treister, Ezequiel; Baer, Rudolf E.; Harrison, Fiona; Powell, Meredith C.; Privon, George C.; Riffel, Rogerio; Rojas, Alejandra F.; Schawinski, Kevin; Urry, C. Megan
    We present new central stellar velocity dispersions for 484 Sy 1.9 and Sy 2 from the second data release of the Swift/BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS DR2). This constitutes the largest study of velocity dispersion measurements in X-ray-selected obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) with 956 independent measurements of the Ca ii H and K lambda 3969, 3934 and Mg I lambda 5175 region (3880-5550 angstrom) and the calcium triplet region (8350-8730 angstrom) from 642 spectra mainly from VLT/X-Shooter or Palomar/DoubleSpec. Our sample spans velocity dispersions of 40-360 km s(1), corresponding to 4-5 orders of magnitude in black hole mass (M (BH) = 10(5.5-9.6) M (circle dot)), bolometric luminosity (L (bol) similar to 10(42-46) erg s(-1)), and Eddington ratio (L/L (Edd) similar to 10(-5) to 2). For 281 AGN, our data and analysis provide the first published central velocity dispersions, including six AGN with low-mass black holes (M (BH) = 10(5.5-6.5) M (circle dot)), discovered thanks to high spectral resolution observations (sigma (inst) similar to 25 km s(-1)). The survey represents a significant advance with a nearly complete census of velocity dispersions of hard X-ray-selected obscured AGN with measurements for 99% of nearby AGN (z < 0.1) outside the Galactic plane ( divide b divide > 10 degrees). The BASS AGN have much higher velocity dispersions than the more numerous optically selected narrow-line AGN (i.e., similar to 150 versus similar to 100 km s(-1)) but are not biased toward the highest velocity dispersions of massive ellipticals (i.e., >250 km s(-1)). Despite sufficient spectral resolution to resolve the velocity dispersions associated with the bulges of small black holes (similar to 10(4-5) M (circle dot)), we do not find a significant population of super-Eddington AGN. Using estimates of the black hole sphere of influence from velocity dispersion, direct stellar and gas black hole mass measurements could be obtained with existing facilities for more than similar to 100 BASS AGN.
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    BASS. XXVIII. Near-infrared Data Release 2: High-ionization and Broad Lines in Active Galactic Nuclei
    (2022) den Brok, Jakob S.; Koss, Michael J.; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Stern, Daniel; Cantalupo, Sebastiano; Lamperti, Isabella; Ricci, Federica; Ricci, Claudio; Oh, Kyuseok; Bauer, Franz E.; Riffel, Rogerio; Rodriguez-Ardila, Alberto; Baer, Rudolf; Harrison, Fiona; Ichikawa, Kohei; Mejia-Restrepo, Julian E.; Mushotzky, Richard; Powell, Meredith C.; Boissay-Malaquin, Rozenn; Stalevski, Marko; Treister, Ezequiel; Urry, C. Megan; Veilleux, Sylvain
    We present the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS) Near-infrared Data Release 2 (DR2), a study of 168 nearby ((z) over bar = 0.04, z < 0.6) active galactic nuclei (AGN) from the all-sky Swift Burst Array Telescope X-ray survey observed with the Very Large Telescope (VLT)/X-shooter in the near-infrared (NIR; 0.8-2.4 mu m). We find that 49/109 (45%) Seyfert 2 and 35/58 (60%) Seyfert 1 galaxies observed with VLT/X-shooter show at least one NIR high-ionization coronal line (CL; ionization potential chi > 100 eV). Comparing the emission of the [Si VI] lambda 1.9640 CL with the X-ray emission for the DR2 AGN, we find a significantly tighter correlation, with a lower scatter (0.37 dex) than that for the optical [O III] lambda 5007 line (0.71 dex). We do not find any correlation between CL emission and the X-ray photon index Gamma. We find a clear trend of line blueshifts with increasing ionization potential in several CLs, such as [Si VI] lambda 1.9640, [Si X] lambda 1.4300, [S VIII] lambda 0.9915, and [S IX] lambda 1.2520, indicating the radial structure of the CL region. Finally, we find a strong underestimation bias in black hole mass measurements of Sy 1.9 using broad H alpha due to the presence of significant dust obscuration. In contrast, the broad Pa alpha and Pa beta emission lines are in agreement with the M-sigma relation. Based on the combined DR1 and DR2 X-shooter sample, the NIR BASS sample now comprises 266 AGN with rest-frame NIR spectroscopic observations, the largest set assembled to date.
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    BASS. XXXV. The MBH-σ* Relation of 105 Month Swift-BAT Type 1 AGNs
    (IOP Publishing Ltd, 2023) Caglar, Turgay; Koss, Michael J.; Burtscher, Leonard; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Erdim, M. Kiyami; Mejia-Restrepo, Julian E.; Ricci, Federica; Powell, Meredith C.; Ricci, Claudio; Mushotzky, Richard; Bauer, Franz Erik; Ananna, Tonima T.; Baer, Rudolf E.; Brandl, Bernhard; Brinchmann, Jarle; Harrison, Fiona; Ichikawa, Kohei; Kakkad, Darshan; Oh, Kyuseok; Riffel, Rogerio; Sartori, Lia F.; Smith, Krista L.; Stern, Daniel; Urry, C. Megan
    We present two independent measurements of stellar velocity dispersions (sigma(star)) from the Ca II H+K lambda 3969, 3934 and Mg I b lambda 5183, 5172, 5167 region (3880-5550 angstrom) and the calcium triplet region (8350-8750 angstrom) for 173 hard X-ray-selected Type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs; z <= 0.08) from the 105 month Swift-BAT catalog. We construct one of the largest samples of local Type 1 AGNs that have both single-epoch virial black hole mass (M-BH) estimates and sigma(star) measurements obtained from high spectral resolution data, allowing us to test the usage of such methods for supermassive black hole studies. We find that the two independent sigma(star) measurements are highly consistent with each other, with an average offset of only 0.002 +/- 0.001 dex. Comparing M-BH estimates based on broad emission lines and stellar velocity dispersion measurements, we find that the former is systematically lower by approximate to 0.12 dex. Consequently, Eddington ratios estimated through broad-line MBH determinations are similarly biased (but in the opposite way). We argue that the discrepancy is driven by extinction in the broad-line region. We also find an anticorrelation between the offset from the M-BH-sigma(star) relation and the Eddington ratio. Our sample of Type 1 AGNs shows a shallower M-BH-sigma(star) relation (with a power-law exponent of approximate to 3.5) compared with that of inactive galaxies (with a power-law exponent of approximate to 4.5), confirming earlier results obtained from smaller samples.
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    BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS) – VI. The ΓX–L/LEdd relation.
    (2017) Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Ricci, Claudio; Treister, Ezequiel; Koss, M.; Schawinski, Kevin; Mushotzky, Richard; Ueda, Yoshihiro; Veilleux, Sylvain; Lamperti, Isabella; Oh, Kyuseok; Stern, Daniel; Harrison, F.; Baloković, Mislav; Gehrels, Neil
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    BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey - III : an observed link between AGN Eddington ratio and narrow-emission-line ratios.
    (2017) Oh, Kyuseok; Ricci, Claudio; Treister, Ezequiel; Schawinski, Kevin; Koss, M.; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Lamperti, Isabella; Mushotzky, Richard; Veilleux, Sylvain; Berney, Simon; Crenshaw, D. Michael
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    BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey - XIII. The nature of the most luminous obscured AGN in the low-redshift universe
    (2019) Bar, Rudolf E.; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Oh, Kyuseok; Koss, Michael J.; Wong, Ivy; Ricci, Claudio; Schawinski, Kevin; Weigel, Anna K.; Sartori, Lia F.; Ichikawa, Kohei; Secrest, Nathan J.; Stern, Daniel; Pacucci, Fabio; Mushotzky, Richard; Powell, Meredith C.; Ricci, Federica; Sani, Eleonora; Smith, Krista L.; Harrison, Fiona A.; Lamperti, Isabella; Urry, C. Megan
    We present a multiwavelength analysis of 28 of the most luminous low-redshift narrow-line, ultra-hard X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) drawn from the 70-month Swift/BAT all-sky survey, with bolometric luminosities of log(L-bol/erg s(-1)) greater than or similar to 45.25. The broad goal of our study is to determine whether these objects have any distinctive properties, potentially setting them aside from lower luminosity obscured AGN in the local Universe. Our analysis relies on the first data release of the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS/DR1) and on dedicated observations with the VLT, Palomar, and Keck observatories. We find that the vast majority of our sources agree with commonly used AGN selection criteria which are based on emission line ratios and on mid-infrared colours. Our AGN are pre-dominantly hosted in massive galaxies (9.8 less than or similar to log (M-*/M-circle dot) less than or similar to 11.7); based on visual inspection of archival optical images, they appear to be mostly ellipticals. Otherwise, they do not have distinctive properties. Their radio luminosities, determined from publicly available survey data, show a large spread of almost four orders of magnitude- much broader than what is found for lower X-ray luminosity obscured AGN in BASS. Moreover, our sample shows no preferred combination of black hole masses (M-BH) and/or Eddington ratio (lambda(Edd)), covering 7.5 less than or similar to log (M-BH/M-circle dot) less than or similar to 10.3 and 0.01 less than or similar to lambda(Edd) less than or similar to 1. Based on the distribution of our sources in the lambda(Edd)-N-H plane, we conclude that our sample is consistent with a scenario where the amount of obscuring material along the line of sight is determined by radiation pressure exerted by the AGN on the dusty circumnuclear gas.
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    Probing the Structure and Evolution of BASS Active Galactic Nuclei through Eddington Ratios
    (2022) Ananna, Tonima Tasnim; Urry, C. Megan; Ricci, Claudio; Natarajan, Priyamvada; Hickox, Ryan C.; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Treister, Ezequiel; Weigel, Anna K.; Ueda, Yoshihiro; Koss, Michael J.; Bauer, F. E.; Temple, Matthew J.; Balokovic, Mislav; Mushotzky, Richard; Auge, Connor; Sanders, David B.; Kakkad, Darshan; Sartori, Lia F.; Marchesi, Stefano; Harrison, Fiona; Stern, Daniel; Oh, Kyuseok; Caglar, Turgay; Powell, Meredith C.; Podjed, Stephanie A.; Mejia-Restrepo, Julian E.
    We constrain the intrinsic Eddington ratio (lambda(Edd)) distribution function for local active galactic nuclei (AGN) in bins of low and high obscuration [log(N-H/cm(-2)) <= 22 and 22 < log(N-H/cm(-2)) < 25], using the Swift Burst Alert Telescope 70 month/BASS DR2 survey. We interpret the fraction of obscured AGN in terms of circumnuclear geometry and temporal evolution. Specifically, at low Eddington ratios (log lambda(Edd) < -2), obscured AGN outnumber unobscured ones by a factor of similar to 4, reflecting the covering factor of the circumnuclear material (0.8, or a torus opening angle of similar to 34 degrees). At high Eddington ratios (log lambda(Edd) > - 1), the trend is reversed, with <30% of AGN having log(N-H/cm(-2)) > 22, which we suggest is mainly due to the small fraction of time spent in a highly obscured state. Considering the Eddington ratio distribution function of narrow-line and broad-line AGN from our prior work, we see a qualitatively similar picture. To disentangle temporal and geometric effects at high lambda(Edd), we explore plausible clearing scenarios such that the time-weighted covering factors agree with the observed population ratio. We find that the low fraction of obscured AGN at high lambda(Edd) is primarily due to the fact that the covering factor drops very rapidly, with more than half the time spent with <10% covering factor. We also find that nearly all obscured AGN at high-lambda(Edd) exhibit some broad lines. We suggest that this is because the height of the depleted torus falls below the height of the broad-line region, making the latter visible from all lines of sight.
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    Significant Suppression of Star Formation in Radio-quiet AGN Host Galaxies with Kiloparsec-scale Radio Structures
    (2020) Smith, Krista Lynne; Koss, Michael; Mushotzky, Richard; Wong, O. Ivy; Shimizu, T. Taro; Ricci, Claudio; Ricci, Federica
    We conducted 22 GHz 1 '' Jansky Very Large Array imaging of 100 radio-quiet X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) from the Swift-Burst Array Telescope (Swift-BAT) survey. We find AGN-driven kiloparsec-scale radio structures inconsistent with pure star formation in 11 AGN. The host galaxies of these AGN lie significantly below the star-forming main sequence, indicating suppressed star formation. While these radio structures tend to be physically small compared to the host galaxy, the global star formation rate of the host is affected. We evaluate the energetics of the radio structures interpreted first as immature radio jets, and then as consequences of an AGN-driven radiative outflow, and compare them to two criteria for successful feedback: the ability to remove the CO-derived molecular gas mass from the galaxy gravitational potential and the kinetic energy transfer to molecular clouds leading to v(cloud) > sigma(*). In most cases, the jet interpretation is insufficient to provide the energy necessary to cause the star formation suppression. Conversely, the wind interpretation provides ample energy in all but one case. We conclude that it is more likely that the observed suppression of star formation in the global host galaxy is due to interstellar medium interactions of a radiative outflow, rather than a small-scale radio jet.
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    The 105-month swift-BAT all-sky hard X-ray survey
    (2018) Kyuseok, O.H.; Koss, Michael; Markwardt, Craig B.; Schawinski, Kevin; Baumgartner, Wayne H.; Barthelmy, Scott D.; Bradley Cenko, S.; Gehrels, Neil; Mushotzky, Richard; Ricci, Claudio
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    The close environments of accreting massive black holes are shaped by radiative feedback.
    (2017) Ricci, Claudio; Treister, Ezequiel; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Koss, M.; Ueda, Yoshihiro; Schawinski, Kevin; Oh, Kyuseok; Lamperti, Isabella; Mushotzky, Richard; Ho, Luis C.; Weigel, Anna K.
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    The CO(3–2)/CO(1–0) Luminosity Line Ratio in Nearby Star-forming Galaxies and Active Galactic Nuclei from xCOLD GASS, BASS, and SLUGS
    (2020) Lamperti, Isabella; Saintonge, Amélie; Koss, Michael; Viti, Serena; Wilson, Christine D.; He, Hao; Shimizu, T. Taro; Greve, Thomas R; Mushotzky, Richard; Treister, Ezequiel
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    UGC 4211: A Confirmed Dual Active Galactic Nucleus in the Local Universe at 230 pc Nuclear Separation
    (2023) Koss, Michael J.; Treister, Ezequiel; Kakkad, Darshan; Casey-Clyde, J. Andrew; Kawamuro, Taiki; Williams, Jonathan; Foord, Adi; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Bauer, Franz E.; Privon, George C.; Ricci, Claudio; Mushotzky, Richard; Barcos-Munoz, Loreto; Blecha, Laura; Connor, Thomas; Harrison, Fiona; Liu, Tingting; Magno, Macon; Mingarelli, Chiara M. F.; Muller-Sanchez, Francisco; Oh, Kyuseok; Shimizu, T. Taro; Smith, Krista Lynne; Stern, Daniel; Tello, Miguel Parra; Urry, C. Megan
    We present multiwavelength high-spatial resolution (similar to 0 ? 1, 70 pc) observations of UGC 4211 at z = 0.03474, a late-stage major galaxy merger at the closest nuclear separation yet found in near-IR imaging (0 " 32, similar to 230 pc projected separation). Using Hubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, Very Large Telescope/MUSE+AO, Keck/OSIRIS+AO spectroscopy, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations, we show that the spatial distribution, optical and near-infrared emission lines, and millimeter continuum emission are all consistent with both nuclei being powered by accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs). Our data, combined with common black hole mass prescriptions, suggest that both SMBHs have similar masses, log (M-BH M-?) similar to 8.1 (south) and log (M-BH M-?) similar to 8.3 (north), respectively. The projected separation of 230 pc (similar to 6x the black hole sphere of influence) represents the closest-separation dual active galactic nuclei (AGN) studied to date with multiwavelength resolved spectroscopy and shows the potential of nuclear (< 50 pc) continuum observations with ALMA to discover hidden growing SMBH pairs. While the exact occurrence rate of close-separation dual AGN is not yet known, it may be surprisingly high, given that UGC 4211 was found within a small, volume-limited sample of nearby hard X-ray detected AGN. Observations of dual SMBH binaries in the subkiloparsec regime at the final stages of dynamical friction provide important constraints for future gravitational wave observatories.
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    Understanding Dual Active Galactic Nucleus Activation in the nearby Universe
    (2012) Koss, M.; Treister, Ezequiel; Mushotzky, Richard; Veilleux, Sylvain; Vasudevan, Ranjan; Trippe, Margaret