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Browsing by Author "Stern, D."

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A GROWTH-RATE INDICATOR FOR COMPTON-THICK ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI
(2016) Brightman, M.; Masini, A.; Ballantyne, D. R.; Balokovic, M.; Brandt, W. N.; Chen, C. -T.; Comastri, A.; Farrah, D.; Gandhi, P.; Harrison, F. A.; Ricci, C.; Stern, D.; Walton, D. J.
Due to their heavily obscured central engines, the growth rate of Compton-thick (CT) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is difficult to measure. A statistically significant correlation between the Eddington ratio, lambda(Edd), and the X-ray power-law index, Gamma, observed in unobscured AGNs offers an estimate of their growth rate from X-ray spectroscopy (albeit with large scatter). However, since X-rays undergo reprocessing by Compton scattering and photoelectric absorption when the line of sight to the central engine is heavily obscured, the recovery of the intrinsic Gamma is challenging. Here we study a sample of local, predominantly CT megamaser AGNs, where the black hole mass, and thus Eddington luminosity, are well known. We compile results of the X-ray spectral fitting of these sources with sensitive high-energy (E > 10 keV) NuSTAR data, where X-ray torus models, which take into account the reprocessing effects have been used to recover the intrinsic Gamma values and X-ray luminosities, L-X. With a simple bolometric correction to L-X to calculate lambda(Edd), we find a statistically significant correlation between Gamma and lambda(Edd) (p = 0.007). A linear fit to the data yields Gamma = (0.41 +/- 0.18)log(10)lambda(Edd) + (2.38 +/- 0.20), which is statistically consistent with results for unobscured AGNs. This result implies that torus modeling successfully recovers the intrinsic AGN parameters. Since the megamasers have low-mass black holes (M-BH approximate to 10(6)-10(7) M-circle dot) and are highly inclined, our results extend the Gamma-lambda(Edd) relationship to lower masses and argue against strong orientation effects in the corona, in support of AGN unification. Finally this result supports the use of Gamma as a growth-rate indicator for accreting black holes, even for CT AGNs.
A hard X-ray view of luminous and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies in GOALS - I. AGN obscuration along the merger sequence
(2021) Ricci, C.; Privon, G. C.; Pfeifle, R. W.; Armus, L.; Iwasawa, K.; Torres-Albà, N.; Satyapal, S.; Bauer, F. E.; Treister, E.; Ho, L. C.; Aalto, S.; Arévalo, P.; Barcos-Muñoz, L.; Charmandaris, V.; Diaz-Santos, T.; Evans, A. S.; Gao, T.; Inami, H.; Koss, M. J.; Lansbury, G.; Linden, S. T.; Medling, A.; Sanders, D. B.; Song, Y.; Stern, D.; U, V.; Ueda, Y.; Yamada, S.
The merger of two or more galaxies can enhance the inflow of material from galactic scales into the close environments of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), obscuring and feeding the supermassive black hole (SMBH). Both recent simulations and observations of AGN in mergers have confirmed that mergers are related to strong nuclear obscuration. However, it is still unclear how AGN obscuration evolves in the last phases of the merger process. We study a sample of 60 luminous and ultra-luminous IR galaxies (U/LIRGs) from the GOALS sample observed by NuSTAR. We find that the fraction of AGNs that are Compton thick (CT;N-H >= 10(24)cm(-2) ) peaks at at a late merger stage, prior to coalescence, when the nuclei have projected separations (d(sep)) of 0.4-6 kpc. A similar peak is also observed in the median N-H [[(1.6 +/- 0.5) x 10(24) cm(-2)].]. The vast majority (85(-9)(+7) per cent)) of the AGNs in the final merger stages (d(sep) less than or similar to 10 kpc) are heavily obscured (N-H = 10(23) cm(-2)), and the median N-H of the accreting SMBHs in our sample is systematically higher than that of local hard X-ray-selected AGN, regardless of the merger stage. This implies that these objects have very obscured nuclear environments, with the gas almost completely covering the AGN in late mergers. CT AGNs tend to have systematically higher absorption-corrected X-ray luminosities than less obscured sources. This could either be due to an evolutionary effect, with more obscured sources accreting more rapidly because they have more gas available in their surroundings, or to a selection bias. The latter scenario would imply that we are still missing a large fraction of heavily obscured, lower luminosity (L2-10 less than or similar to 10(43) erg s(-1)) AGNs in U/LIRGs.
A HIGH BRAKING INDEX FOR A PULSAR
(2016) Archibald, R. F.; Gotthelf, E. V.; Ferdman, R. D.; Kaspi, V. M.; Guillot, S.; Harrison, F. A.; Keane, E. F.; Pivovaroff, M. J.; Stern, D.; Tendulkar, S. P.; Tomsick, J. A.
We present a phase-coherent timing solution for PSR. J1640-4631, a young 206 ms pulsar using X-ray timing observations taken with NuSTAR. Over this timing campaign, we have measured the braking index of PSR. J1640-4631 to be n = 3.15 +/- 0.03. Using a series of simulations, we argue that this unusually high braking index is not due to timing noise, but is intrinsic to the pulsar's spin-down. We cannot, however, rule out contamination due to an unseen glitch recovery, although the recovery timescale would have to be longer than most yet observed. If this braking index is eventually proven to be stable, it demonstrates that pulsar braking indices greater than three are allowed in nature; hence, other physical mechanisms such as mass or magnetic quadrupoles are important in pulsar spin-down. We also present a 3 sigma upper limit on the pulsed flux at 1.4 GHz of 0.018 mJy.
A New Compton-thick AGN in Our Cosmic Backyard: Unveiling the Buried Nucleus in NGC 1448 with NuSTAR
(2017) Annuar, A.; Alexander, D.; Gandhi, P.; Lansbury, G.; Asmus, D.; Ballantyne, D.; Bauer, Franz Erik; Boggs, S.; Boorman, P.; Brandt W.; Brightman, M.|Christensen, F.; Craig, W.; Farrah, D.; Goulding, A.; Hailey, C.; Harrison, F.; Koss, M.; Lamassa, S.; Murray, S.; Ricci, Claudio; Rosario, D.; Stanley, F.; Stern, D.; Zhang, W.
An extragalactic spectroscopic survey of the SSA22 field
(2015) Saez, C.; Lehmer, B. D.; Bauer, Franz Erik; Stern, D.; Gonzales, A.; Rreza, I.; Alexander, D. M.; Matsuda, Y.; Geach, J. E.; Harrison, F. A.
BASS XXXI: Outflow scaling relations in low redshift X-ray AGN host galaxies with MUSE
(2022) Kakkad, D.; Sani, E.; Rojas, A. F.; Mallmann, Nicolas D.; Veilleux, S.; Bauer, Franz E.; Ricci, F.; Mushotzky, R.; Koss, M.; Ricci, C.; Treister, E.; Privon, George C.; Nguyen, N.; Bär, R.; Harrison, F.; Oh, K.; Powell, M.; Riffel, R.; Stern, D.; Trakhtenbrot, B.; Urry, C. M.
Ionized gas kinematics provide crucial evidence of the impact that active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have in regulating star formation in their host galaxies. Although the presence of outflows in AGN host galaxies has been firmly established, the calculation of outflow properties such as mass outflow rates and kinetic energy remains challenging. We present the [O iii]lambda 5007 ionized gas outflow properties of 22 z<0.1 X-ray AGN, derived from the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey using MUSE/VLT. With an average spatial resolution of 1 arcsec (0.1-1.2 kpc), the observations resolve the ionized gas clouds down to sub-kiloparsec scales. Resolved maps show that the [O iii] velocity dispersion is, on average, higher in regions ionized by the AGN, compared to star formation. We calculate the instantaneous outflow rates in individual MUSE spaxels by constructing resolved mass outflow rate maps, incorporating variable outflow density and velocity. We compare the instantaneous values with time-averaged outflow rates by placing mock fibres and slits on the MUSE field-of-view, a method often used in the literature. The instantaneous outflow rates (0.2-275 M-circle dot yr(-1)) tend to be two orders of magnitude higher than the time-averaged outflow rates (0.001-40 M-circle dot yr(-1)). The outflow rates correlate with the AGN bolometric luminosity (L-bol similar to 10(42.71)-10(45.62) erg s(-1)) but we find no correlations with black hole mass (10(6.1)-10(8.9) M-circle dot), Eddington ratio (0.002-1.1), and radio luminosity (10(21)-10(26) W Hz(-1)). We find the median coupling between the kinetic energy and L-bol to be 1 per cent, consistent with the theoretical predictions for an AGN-driven outflow.
BASS XXXVII: The Role of Radiative Feedback in the Growth and Obscuration Properties of Nearby Supermassive Black Holes
(2022) Ricci, C.; Ananna, T. T.; Temple, M. J.; Urry, C. M.; Koss, M. J.; Trakhtenbrot, B.; Ueda, Y.; Stern, D.; Bauer, F. E.; Treister, E.; Privon, G. C.; Oh, K.; Paltani, S.; Stalevski, M.; Ho, L. C.; Fabian, A. C.; Mushotzky, R.; Chang, C. S.; Ricci, F.; Kakkad, D.; Sartori, L.; Baer, R.; Caglar, T.; Powell, M.; Harrison, F.
We study the relation between obscuration and supermassive black hole (SMBH) accretion using a large sample of hard X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We find a strong decrease in the fraction of obscured sources above the Eddington limit for dusty gas (log lambda(Edd) >= -2) confirming earlier results, and consistent with the radiation-regulated unification model. This also explains the difference in the Eddington ratio distribution functions (ERDFs) of type 1 and type 2 AGNs obtained by a recent study. The break in the ERDF of nearby AGNs is at log lambda*(Edd) = -1.34 +/- 0.07. This corresponds to the lambda(Edd) where AGNs transition from having most of their sky covered by obscuring material to being mostly devoid of absorbing material. A similar trend is observed for the luminosity function, which implies that most of the SMBH growth in the local universe happens when the AGN is covered by a large reservoir of gas and dust. These results could be explained with a radiation-regulated growth model, in which AGNs move in the N-H-lambda(Edd) plane during their life cycle. The growth episode starts with the AGN mostly unobscured and accreting at low lambda(Edd). As the SMBH is further fueled, lambda(Edd), N-H and the covering factor increase, leading the AGN to be preferentially observed as obscured. Once lambda(Edd) reaches the Eddington limit for dusty gas, the covering factor and N-H rapidly decrease, leading the AGN to be typically observed as unobscured. As the remaining fuel is depleted, the SMBH goes back into a quiescent phase.
BASS. XLII. The Relation between the Covering Factor of Dusty Gas and the Eddington Ratio in Nearby Active Galactic Nuclei
Ricci, C.; Ichikawa, K.; Stalevski, M.; Kawamuro, T.; Yamada, S.; Ueda, Y.; Mushotzky, R.; Privon, G. C.; Koss, M. J.; Trakhtenbrot, B.; Fabian, A. C.; Ho, L. C.; Asmus, D.; Bauer, Franz Erik; Chang, C. S.; Gupta, K. K.; Oh, K.; Powell, M.; Pfeifle, R. W.; Rojas, A.; Ricci, F.; Temple, M. J.; Toba, Y.; Tortosa, A.; Treister, Ezequiel; Harrison, F.; Stern, D.; Urry, C. M.
Accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs) located at the centers of galaxies are typically surrounded by large quantities of gas and dust. The structure and evolution of this circumnuclear material can be studied at different wavelengths, from the submillimeter to the X-ray. Recent X-ray studies have shown that the covering factor of the obscuring material tends to decrease with increasing Eddington ratio, likely due to radiative feedback on dusty gas. Here we study a sample of 549 nearby (z less than or similar to 0.1) hard X-ray (14-195 keV) selected nonblazar active galactic nuclei (AGN) and use the ratio between the AGN infrared and bolometric luminosity as a proxy of the covering factor. We find that, in agreement with what has been found by X-ray studies of the same sample, the covering factor decreases with increasing Eddington ratio. We also confirm previous findings that showed that obscured AGN typically have larger covering factors than unobscured sources. Finally, we find that the median covering factors of AGN located in different regions of the column density-Eddington ratio diagram are in good agreement with what would be expected from a radiation-regulated growth of SMBHs.
BASS. XXXIII. Swift-BAT Blazars and Their Jets through Cosmic Time
(2022) Marcotulli, L.; Ajello, M.; Urry, C. M.; Paliya, V. S.; Koss, M.; Oh, K.; Madejski, G.; Ueda, Y.; Balokovic, M.; Trakhtenbrot, B.; Ricci, F.; Ricci, C.; Stern, D.; Harrison, F.; Powell, M. C.
We derive the most up-to-date Swift-Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) blazar luminosity function in the 14-195 keV range, making use of a clean sample of 118 blazars detected in the BAT 105 month survey catalog, with newly obtained redshifts from the BAT Active Galatic Nucleus Spectroscopic Survey. We determine the best-fit X-ray luminosity function for the whole blazar population, as well as for flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) alone. The main results are: (1) at any redshift, BAT detects the most luminous blazars, above any possible break in their luminosity distribution, which means we cannot differentiate between density and luminosity evolution; (2) the whole blazar population, dominated by FSRQs, evolves positively up to redshift z similar to 4.3, confirming earlier results and implying lower number densities of blazars at higher redshifts than previously estimated. The contribution of this source class to the cosmic X-ray background at 14-195 keV can range from 5%-18%, while possibly accounting for 100% of the MeV background. We also derived the average 14 keV-10 GeV spectral energy distribution for BAT blazars, which allows us to predict the number counts of sources in the MeV range, as well as the expected number of high-energy (>100 TeV) neutrinos. A mission like COSI will detect 40 MeV blazars, of which two may have coincident neutrino detections. Finally, taking into account beaming selection effects, the distribution and properties of the parent population of these extragalactic jets are derived. We find that the distribution of viewing angles is quite narrow, with most sources aligned within <5 degrees of the line of sight. Moreover, the average Lorentz factor, Gamma = 8-12, is lower than previously suggested for these powerful sources.
BAT AGN spectroscopic survey – XV: the high frequency radio cores of ultra-hard X-ray selected AGN
(OUP, 2019) Smith, K. L.; Mushotzky, R. F.; Koss, M.; Trakhtenbrot, B.; Ricci, Claudio; Wong, O. I.; Bauer, F. E.; Ricci, F.; Vogel, S.; Stern, D.; Powell, M. C.; Urry, C. M.; Harrison, F.; Mejia-Restrepo, J.; Oh, K.; Baek, J.; Chun, A.
We have conducted 22 GHz radio imaging at 1 arcsec resolution of 100 low-redshift AGN selected at 14–195 keV by the Swift-BAT. We find a radio core detection fraction of 96 per cent, much higher than lower frequency radio surveys. Of the 96 radio-detected AGN, 55 have compact morphologies, 30 have morphologies consistent with nuclear star formation, and 11 have sub-kpc to kpc-scale jets. We find that the total radio power does not distinguish between nuclear star formation and jets as the origin of the radio emission. For 87 objects, we use optical spectroscopy to test whether AGN physical parameters are distinct between radio morphological types. We find that X-ray luminosities tend to be higher if the 22 GHz morphology is jet-like, but find no significant difference in other physical parameters. We find that the relationship between the X-ray and core radio luminosities is consistent with the LR/LX ∼ 10−5 of coronally active stars. We further find that the canonical fundamental planes of black hole activity systematically overpredict our radio luminosities, particularly for objects with star formation morphologies.
Broad-band X-ray spectral analysis of the Seyfert 1 galaxy GRS 1734-292
(2017) Tortosa, A.; Marinucci, A.; Matt, G.; Bianchi, S.; La Franca, F.; Ballantyne, D. R.; Boorman, P. G.; Fabian, A. C.; Farrah, D.; Ricci, Claudio; Fuerst, F.; Gandhi, P.; Harrison, F. A.; Koss, M. J.; Stern, D.; Ursini, F.; Walton, D. J.
Constraining X-ray reflection in the low-luminosity AGN NGC3718 using NuSTAR and XMM-Newton
(2020) Diaz, Y.; Arevalo, P.; Hernandez Garcia, L.; Bassani, L.; Malizia, A.; Gonzalez Martin, O.; Ricci, Claudio; Matt, G.; Stern, D.; Bauer, Franz Erik; May, D.; Zezas, A .
Determining the covering factor of compton-thick active galactic nuclei with NuSTAR
(2015) Brightman, M.; Balokovic, M.; Stern, D.; Arevalo, P.; Ballantyne, D. R.; Bauer, Franz Erik; Bogg, S. E.; Craig, W. W.; Christensen, F. E.; Comastri, A.; Gandhi, P.; Hailey, C. J.; Harrison, F. A.; Hickox, R. C.; Koss, M.; Lamassa, S.; Fuerst, F.; Puccetti, S.; Rivers, E.; Vasudevan, R.; Walton, D. J.; Zhang, W. W.
Do some AGN lack X-ray emission?
(2016) Simmonds, C.; Bauer, Franz Erik; Thuan, T.; Izotov, Y.; Stern, D.; Harrison, F.
Hard X-ray emission of the luminous infrared galaxy NGC 6240 as observed by NuSTAR
(2016) Puccetti, S.; Comastri, A.; Bauer, Franz Erik; Brandt, W.; Fiore, E.; Harrison, F.; Luo, B.; Stern, D.; Urry, C.; Alexander, D.; Annuar, A.; Arevalo, P.; Balokovic, M.; Boggs, S.; Brightman, M.; Craig, W.; Ricci, Claudio
Hard X-Ray-selected AGNs in Low-mass Galaxies from the NuSTAR Serendipitous Survey
(2017) Chen, C. T. J.; Brandt, W. N.; Reines, A. E.; Lansbury, G.; Stern, D.; Alexander, D. M.; Bauer, Franz Erik; Ricci, Claudio; Del Moro, A.; Gandhi, P.; Harrison, F. A.; Hickox, R. C.; Koss, M. J.; Lanz, L.; Koss, M. J.; Lanz, L.; Luo, B.; Ricci, Claudio
HOT DUST OBSCURED GALAXIES WITH EXCESS BLUE LIGHT : DUAL AGN OR SINGLE AGN UNDER EXTREME CONDITIONS?
(2016) Assef, R.; Walton, D.; Brightman, M.; Stern, D.; Alexander, D.; Bauer, Franz Erik; Blain, A.; Diaz, T.; Eisenhardt, P.; Finkelstein, S.; Hickox, R.; Tsai, C.; Wu, J.
Hot Dust-obscured Galaxies with Excess Blue Light
(2020) Assef, R. J.; Brightman, M.; Walton, D. J.; Stern, D.; Bauer, F. E.; Blain, A. W.; Diaz-Santos, T.; Eisenhardt, P. R. M.; Hickox, R. C.; Jun, H. D.; Psychogyios, A.; Tsai, C-W; Wu, J. W.
Hot dust-obscured galaxies (Hot DOGs) are among the most luminous galaxies in the universe. Powered by highly obscured, possibly Compton-thick, active galactic nuclei (AGNs), Hot DOGs are characterized by spectral energy distributions that are very red in the mid-infrared yet dominated by the host galaxy stellar emission in the UV and optical. An earlier study identified a subsample of Hot DOGs with significantly enhanced UV emission. One target, W0204-0506, was studied in detail and, based on Chandra observations, it was concluded that the enhanced emission was most likely due to either extreme unobscured star formation (star formation rate > 1000Myr(-1)) or to light from the highly obscured AGN scattered by gas or dust into our line of sight. Here, we present a follow-up study of W0204-0506 as well as two more Hot DOGs with excess UV emission. For the two new objects we obtained Chandra/ACIS-S observations, and for all three targets we obtained Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3 F555W and F160W imaging. The analysis of these observations, combined with multiwavelength photometry and UV/optical spectroscopy suggests that UV emission is most likely dominated by light from the central highly obscured, hyperluminous AGN that has been scattered into our line of sight, by either gas or dust. We cannot decisively rule out, however, that star formation or a second AGN in the system may significantly contribute to the UV excess of these targets.
Imaging Polarization of the Blue-excess Hot Dust-obscured Galaxy WISE J011601.41-050504.0
(2022) Assef, R. J.; Bauer, F. E.; Blain, A. W.; Brightman, M.; Diaz-Santos, T.; Eisenhardt, P. R. M.; Jun, H. D.; Stern, D.; Tsai, C-W; Walton, D. J.; Wu, J. W.
We report on VLT/FORS2 imaging polarimetry observations in the R (Special) band of WISE J011601.41-050504.0 (W0116-0505), a heavily obscured hyperluminous quasar at z = 3.173 classified as a Hot Dust-obscured Galaxy (Hot DOG) based on its mid-IR colors. Recently, Assef et al. identified W0116-0505 as having excess rest-frame optical/UV emission and concluded that this excess emission is most likely scattered light from the heavily obscured AGN. We find that the broadband rest-frame UV flux is strongly linearly polarized (10.8% +/- 1.9%, with a polarization angle of 74 degrees +/- 9 degrees), confirming this conclusion. We analyze these observations in the context of a simple model based on scattering either by free electrons or by optically thin dust, assuming a classical dust torus with polar openings. Both can replicate the degree of polarization and the luminosity of the scattered component for a range of geometries and column densities, but we argue that optically thin dust in the ISM is the more likely scenario. We also explore the possibility that the scattering medium corresponds to an outflow recently identified for W0116-0505. This is a feasible option if the outflow component is biconical with most of the scattering occurring at the base of the receding outflow. In this scenario, the quasar would still be obscured even if viewed face-on but might appear as a reddened type 1 quasar once the outflow has expanded. We discuss a possible connection between blue-excess Hot DOGs, extremely red quasars, reddened type 1 quasars, and unreddened quasars that depends on a combination of evolution and viewing geometry.
Initial results from NuSTAR observations of the Norma ARM
(2014) Bodaghee, A.; Tomsick, J.; Krivonos, R.; Stern, D.; Bauer, Franz Erik; Fornasini, F.; Barriere, N.; Boggs, S.,

Browsing by Author "Stern, D."

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