Browsing by Author "Stern, Jonathan"

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    A Transient "Changing-look" Active Galactic Nucleus Resolved on Month Timescales from First-year Sloan Digital Sky Survey V Data
    (2022) Zeltyn, Grisha; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Eracleous, Michael; Runnoe, Jessie; Trump, Jonathan R.; Stern, Jonathan; Shen, Yue; Hernandez-Garcia, Lorena; Bauer, Franz E.; Yang, Qian; Dwelly, Tom; Ricci, Claudio; Green, Paul; Anderson, Scott F.; Assef, Roberto J.; Guolo, Muryel; MacLeod, Chelsea; Davis, Megan C.; Fries, Logan; Gezari, Suvi; Grogin, Norman A.; Homan, David; Koekemoer, Anton M.; Krumpe, Mirko; LaMassa, Stephanie; Liu, Xin; Merloni, Andrea; Martinez-Aldama, Mary Loli; Schneider, Donald P.; Temple, Matthew J.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Ibarra-Medel, Hector; Burke, Jamison; Pellegrino, Craig; Kollmeier, Juna A.
    We report the discovery of a new "changing-look" active galactic nucleus (CLAGN) event, in the quasar SDSS J162829.17+432948.5 at z = 0.2603, identified through repeat spectroscopy from the fifth Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-V). Optical photometry taken during 2020-2021 shows a dramatic dimming of Delta g approximate to 1 mag, followed by a rapid recovery on a timescale of several months, with the less than or similar to 2 month period of rebrightening captured in new SDSS-V and Las Cumbres Observatory spectroscopy. This is one of the fastest CLAGN transitions observed to date. Archival observations suggest that the object experienced a much more gradual dimming over the period of 2011-2013. Our spectroscopy shows that the photometric changes were accompanied by dramatic variations in the quasar-like continuum and broad-line emission. The excellent agreement between the pre- and postdip photometric and spectroscopic appearances of the source, as well as the fact that the dimmest spectra can be reproduced by applying a single extinction law to the brighter spectral states, favor a variable line-of-sight obscuration as the driver of the observed transitions. Such an interpretation faces several theoretical challenges, and thus an alternative accretion-driven scenario cannot be excluded. The recent events observed in this quasar highlight the importance of spectroscopic monitoring of large active galactic nucleus samples on weeks-to-months timescales, which the SDSS-V is designed to achieve.