An introduction to
Active Galactic Nuclei
HERAS 10th January 2011
Historical perspective
First optical spectrum of active galaxy , by Fath
(1908) - strong emission lines in NGC 1068
Followed up in higher resolution by V. Slipher
Resolved emission lines ‘similar to planetary
nebula’ with Doppler widths ~ 100s km/s
Seyfert (1943) was first to suggest a distinct
class of galaxies with ‘stellar appearing cores’
Spectra dominated by ‘broad emission lines’
Radio galaxies discovered as a result of first
radio surveys in late 1950s
Most early radio sources identified with resolved
galaxies – some found to be coincident with
‘star-like’ sources...Quasars
Schmidt (1963) identifies emission lines in
Quasar 3C273 as redshifted H-Balmer lines
z = 0.158 amongst largest measured at that time
~10x bigger than Seyfert redshifts
Distance ~ 750 Mpc ~ 2.4 x 109 Ly
From the 1960s onward, advances in detector
technology and space observatories allowed
observations to be made across the full
electromagnetic spectrum
Today, the study of AGN is a rapidly evolving
subject employing ~20% of research
astrophysicists
Through recent advances in the amount and
quality of data, there is a slowly developing
consensus on the gross properties of AGN,
however after more than 30 years of intense
study our understanding of AGN phenomena is
still far from complete.
Fundamentals
Four broad sub-classes of active galaxy
Seyfert Galaxies
Quasars
Radio Galaxies
Blazars
Active Galaxies are ‘normal’ galaxies with a
compact energetic nucleus – an AGN
Broadband SED comparison
Synchrotron radiation
Non-thermal – produced by
relativistic electrons moving
in a magnetic field
SSC process can Power-law spectrum
produce emission over
wide range of
wavelengths
Synchrotron
spectrum
Power-law spectrum is a reasonable description of AGN
SED over wide frequency range
IR bump and big blue bump thought to be ‘thermal’ in origin
Seyfert Galaxies
Spiral – relatively close
‘Normal’ galaxy with
unresolved ‘stellar’
nucleus (< ~1pc)
Spectral excess at far IR
UV and soft X-ray
LNucleus ~ 1011 L
~ all other stars in galaxy
MBol > -21.5 + 5 log h0
Seyfert Spectra
Strong emission lines
Broad ‘permitted’
emission lines
- indicate high density of
emitting gases
Narrow ‘forbidden’
emission lines
- indicate low density of
emitting gases
Seyfert 1 have broad &
narrow lines
- broad lines indicate rapid
bulk motions (~10000 km/s)
Seyfert 2 have narrow
(~100s km/s) lines only
Quasars
M87 Virgo A
Usually elliptical
– relatively distant
Sometimes have
jets
Radio sources, often
appear ‘star-like’ in
optical
LNucleus ~ 1013 L
~ 100x other stars
in galaxy
MBol < -21.5 + 5 log h0
Comparing radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars
~ 10% of quasars have strong
jets and are ‘radio loud’
Mean quasar spectrum shows: strong / broad / forbidden
emission lines – like Seyfert 1 but more luminous
Radio Galaxies
Centaurus A
Compact core
Weak jets –
Compact
always in pairs
core
Jet Faint lobes
Lobe
Lv (1.4 GHz)
< 1032 erg s-1 Hz-1
Hotspot Compact core
Compact Single strong
core jet – 2nd jet faint
Jet – transports or absent
energy to lobe
Lobe Limb-brightened
lobes with hotspots
Optical spectrum of core is similar to quasar
Broad lines present – BLRG
Narrow lines only – NLRG
Radio galaxy size
Normal galaxy diameters ~10’s → ~100’s Kpc
VLBI gives typical core size ~ 0.01pc
Blazars
Recognised as a separate class of object in 1970’s
Two sub-classes:
Optically Violent Variables and BL Lac objects
Appear star-like...similar to quasars
Elliptical host galaxies (when visible)
Variable on timescales of days or less
Always radio loud
High and variable polarization
Originally thought to
be variable stars
Emission lines weak
or absent
Relatively low
redshifts
AGN problems
• unresolved nucleus (less than ~1 cubic pc)
outshines rest of galaxy
• substantial amounts of energy
LAGN ≈ 1046 ergs s-1
emitted over wide range of wavelengths
• emission not attributable to stars alone
• emission is variable at all wavelengths measured
– sometimes on very rapid timescales
• If nucleus is gravitationally bound, virial argument
M ≈ v2 r / G
Gives mass MN ≈ 109±1 M
The Black Hole paradigm
Early AGN research (1960s) produced many
models – all failed to explain the wide variety of
AGN characteristics
‘Nuclear starburst’ scenario (Terlevitch et. al. 1992)
not definitively discredited but fails to explain rapid
X-ray variability or radio-loud objects
Today, there is growing evidence for
supermassive objects at the centre of galaxies
Current working model of AGN is a ‘central
engine’ consisting of an accretion disc
surrounding a super-massive black hole
AGN cutaway
central engine
NLR
BLR
Gas and
dust torus
The central engine
Rapid variability gives size of
nucleus ~ 3 x 1012 m ≈ 20 AU
Eddington limit gives minimum
mass of central object ~ 108 M
- In agreement with virial result
Schwarzschild radius for
that mass:
Rs ~ 3 x 1011 m ≈ 2 AU
For Mbh 108 M stars
are tidally disrupted outside
the Schwarzschild radius,
forming an accretion disc
The accretion disc
Gravitational potential energy is
converted into radiation via
viscous dissipation
Calculations show that typical QSO
luminosities can be achieved via
the accretion of < 1 M / yr
The inner (hottest) part of the disc
lies at ~ 5 Rs
Radiates extreme UV / soft X-ray
Big blue bump ?
In some cases a hot ‘ion torus’
may form, creating a rapidly
rotating field and collimating the
outflow of charged particles
Formation of jets?
Broad Line Region
Size ~ a few light days
Temp ~ 104 K
Electron density ~ 1010 cm-3
Mass ~ 10 M
Broad line widths indicate rapid
bulk motions
Consists of ~ 1010 ionized or
partially ionized gas clouds
Emission lines indicate radially
stratified ionization structure
and vary with continuum
BLR clouds may be extended
envelopes or material ablated
off giant stars
Narrow Line Region
Size r ≥ 100 pc
Temp ~ 16000 K
Electron density ~ 2000 cm-3
Mass ~ 106 M
Narrow line widths indicate
relatively slow bulk motions
Consists of ~ 105 ionised or
partially ionized gas clouds
Ionization structure confined to
‘ionization cones’ extending 50
pc to 15 kpc
Powered by central engine
but emission lines don’t vary
with continuum
Dust Torus
NGC 7052 Size r ≈ 1 pc
Temp ~ 2000 K
Mass ~ 0.02 M
Growing consensus that IR
continuum in non-blazar AGN
is thermal in origin
Graphite dust grains are heated
by radiation from the central
engine and re-radiate in IR
1 μm minimum in AGN SEDs corresponds to dust sublimation temp
IR continuum variations follow UV variations with ~400 day time-lag
Explains sub-millimetre break – sharp cut-off in thermal emission as
dust emission efficiency has strong frequency dependence
Jets
Magnetic field of central
black hole is ‘frozen into’
an ion torus
Rapidly rotating field
collimates the outflow of
charged particles into a jet
Relativistic electrons
spiral around the field
lines emitting powerful
and polarised
synchrotron radiation
Jets carry energy from the central engine to the radio lobes – hotspots
etc created through ‘shock heating’ of IGM
Explaining Blazars
Looking straight down the jet, we see a blazar
‘Relativistic beaming’ enhances the emission
Gas blobs moving down the jet can appear to move faster than light
- this is a geometric effect
Unified models
Try to explain all of the observed characteristics as
simply as possible
Standard AGN model plus observations suggest
emission from central engine is non-isotropic
Assume little intrinsic diversity among AGN
Wide variety of AGN phenomena due to real
differences in a small number of parameters
(luminosity?) coupled with apparent differences due
to orientation effects
observer
sees FIR
galaxy
The End