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Related papers: Extracting Information from AGN Variability

200 papers

We introduce a new model for understanding AGN continuum variability. We start from a Shakura--Sunyaev thin accretion disc with a steady-state radial temperature profile $T(R)$ and assume that the variable flux is due to axisymmetric…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2022-05-19 J. M. M. Neustadt , C. S. Kochanek

The sampling strategy of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) make TESS light curves extremely valuable to investigate high cadence optical variability of AGN. However, because the TESS instrument was primarily designed for…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2023-10-16 Krista Lynne Smith , Lia Sartori

X-ray observations of active galactic nuclei (AGN) show variability on timescales ranging from a few hours up to a few days. Some of this variability may be associated with occultation events by clouds in the broad line region. In this…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2018-08-08 E. S. Kammoun , F. Marin , M. Dovciak , E. Nardini , G. Risaliti , M. Sanfrutos

Many AGN exhibit a highly variable luminosity. Some AGN also show a pronounced time delay between variations seen in their optical continuum and in their emission lines. In effect, the emission lines are light echoes of the continuum. This…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-31 W. F. Welsh

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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2016-11-03 Bradley M. Peterson

The variability mechanisms from jetted AGNs are still under debate. Here the damped random walk (DRW) model, implemented through Gaussian Processe (GPs), is used to fit the $ZTF$ long-term optical light curves of 1684 $\gamma$-ray emission…

We used data from the QUEST-La Silla Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) variability survey to construct light curves for 208,583 sources over $\sim 70$ deg$^2$, with a a limiting magnitude $r \sim 21$. Each light curve has at least 40 epochs and…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-05-29 P. Sánchez-Sáez , P. Lira , R. Cartier , N. Miranda , L. C. Ho , P. Arévalo , F. E. Bauer , P. Coppi , C. Yovaniniz

We present simple XSPEC models for fitting excess variance spectra of AGN. Using a simple Monte-Carlo approach, we simulate a range of spectra corresponding to physical parameters varying, then calculate the resulting variance spectra.…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2020-01-08 M. L. Parker , W. N. Alston , Z. Igo , A. C. Fabian

We use the Athena hydrodynamics code to model propagating two-dimensional relativistic jets as approximations to the growth of radio-loud active galactic nuclei for various input jet velocities and jet-to-ambient matter density ratios.…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2016-03-23 Maxwell Pollack , David Pauls , Paul J. Wiita

Double-peaked \oiii~profiles could potentially indicate kiloparsec-scale dual AGNs. We analyze long-term optical light curves of 35 type 1 AGNs with such features from our recent catalog in Zheng et al. (2025). These light curves are…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-08-04 Qi Zheng , Xingyv Zhu , Xueguang Zhang , Qirong Yuan

The X-ray variability of the Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) has been most often investigated with studies of individual, nearby, sources, and only a few ensemble analyses have been applied to large samples in wide ranges of luminosity and…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2011-12-21 F. Vagnetti , S. Turriziani , D. Trevese

Context. A defining characteristic of active galactic nuclei (AGN) that distinguishes them from other astronomical sources is their stochastic variability, which is observable across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Upcoming optical…

Changing-look active galactic nuclei (CLAGNs) are a unique population of AGNs that exhibit the appearance (turn-on) or disappearance (turn-off) of broad emission lines. This study aims to explore the intrinsic mechanisms of CLAGNs by…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-11-14 Huimei Wang , Xue-Bing Wu , Nanyu Yao , Bing Lyu , Yuxuan Pang , Yuming Fu , Rui Zhu , Qian Yang

Literature on optical and infrared microvariability in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) reflects a diversity of statistical tests and strategies to detect tiny variations in the lightcurves of these sources. Comparison between the results…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2020-04-08 Jose A. de Diego

Accreting compact objects show variations in source flux over a broad range of timescales and in all wavebands. The light curves typically show a lognormal distribution of flux and a linear relation between flux and rms. It has been…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2019-02-20 William Alston

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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 T. Kawaguchi , S. Mineshige

The variability of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is ubiquitous but has not yet been understood. Measuring the optical variation properties of AGNs, such as variation timescale and amplitude, and then correlating them with their fundamental…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-01-11 Xu-Fan Hu , Zhen-Yi Cai , Jun-Xian Wang

Spectral-timing techniques have proven valuable in studying the interplay between the X-ray corona and the accretion disc in variable active galactic nuclei (AGN). Under certain conditions, photo-ionized outflows emerging from central AGN…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2022-01-19 A. Juráňová , E. Costantini , P. Uttley

We compared optical spectroscopic and photometric data for 18 AGN galaxies over 2 to 3 epochs, with time intervals of typically 5 to 10 years. We used the Multi-Object Double Spectrograph (MODS) at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) and…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-10-28 Y. E. Rashed , A. Eckart , M. Valencia-S. , M. García-Marín , G. Busch , J. Zuther , M. Horrobin , H. Zhou

We discuss the impact of special relativistic effects on the observed light curves and variability duty cycles of AGNs. We model the properties of AGN light curves at radio wavelengths using a simulated shot noise process in which the…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-07 Matthew L. Lister