Related papers: The Broad Line Region of Quasars
Optical spectropolarimetry and broadband polarimetry in other wavebands has been a key to understanding many diverse aspects of AGN. In some cases polarization is due to synchrotron radiation, and in other cases it's due to scattering.…
I review the constraints that X-ray observations impose on the physical properties and the geometrical distribution of cold absorbing gas in nearby obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), as well as their implications for AGN structure…
Hard X-ray surveys are an important tool for the study of active galactic nuclei (AGN): they provide almost an unbiased view of absorption in the extragalactic population, allow the study of spectral features such as reflection and high…
We present the general properties of the Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) and discuss the origin and structure of jets that are associated to a fraction of these objects. We then we address the problems of particle acceleration at highly…
Results of a long-term monitoring ($\gtrsim 10$ years) of the broad line and continuum fluxes of three Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), 3C 390.3, NGC 4151, and NGC 5548, are presented. We analyze the H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ profile variations…
In this paper we give a brief review of the astrophysics of active galactic nuclei (AGN). After a general introduction motivating the study of AGNs, we discuss our present understanding of the inner workings of the central engines, most…
In order to contribute to the general effort aiming at the improvement of our knowledge about the physical conditions within the Broad Line Region (BLR) of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), here we present the results achieved by our analysis…
The active galactic nucleus (AGN) phenomena results from a supermassive black hole accreting its surrounding gaseous and dusty material. The infrared (IR) regime provides most of the information to characterize the dusty structures that…
We review the properties of the established Scaling Relations (SRs) of galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN), focusing on their origin and expected evolution back in time, providing a short history of the most important progresses…
This article focuses on certain variability and emission characteristics of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), especially their radio-loud subset consisting of quasars, BL Lacs and $\gamma$-ray detected narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies, all of…
In this work we investigate the properties of the broad emission line components in the Balmer series of a sample of Type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Using the Boltzmann Plot method as a diagnostic tool for physical conditions in the…
Continuum and emission-line variability of active galactic nuclei provides a powerful probe of microarcsecond scale structures in the central regions of these sources. In this contribution, we review basic concepts and methodologies used in…
The broad line region (BLR) of luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN) is a prominent observational signature of the accretion flow around supermassive black holes, which can be used to measure their masses (M_BH) over cosmic history. Due to…
Among all the astronomical sources investigated through the prism of polarimetry, active galactic nuclei (AGN) have proven to be the richest in terms of complex yet fundamental signatures that helped to understand their true nature. Indeed,…
We present a brief overview of a very extensive studies of the group of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) that transitioned to radio-loud state over the past few decades. The sample consists of twelve sources, both quasars and galaxies, showing…
We discuss how several of the questions that remain unclear on the physics of Active Galactic Nuclei may find elements of answers when using in the coming years the extraordinary set of instruments that will be flying simultaneously to…
Number of monitoring observations of continuum emission from Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) have been made in optical--X-ray bands. The results obtained so far show (i) random up and down on timescales longer than decades, (ii) no typical…
Selective amplification of the line and continuum source by microlensing in a lensed quasar can lead to changes of continuum spectral slopes and line shapes in the spectra of the quasar components. Comparing the spectra of different…
Analytical and numerical galaxy-formation models indicate that active galactic nuclei (AGNs) likely play a prominent role in the formation and evolution of galaxies. However, quantifying this effect requires knowledge of how the nuclear…
Polarimetric study in the UV and optical has been one of the keys to reveal the structure and nature of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Combined with the HST's high spatial resolution, it has directly confirmed the predicted scattering…