English
Related papers

Related papers: A forward modelling approach to AGN variability --…

200 papers

An empirical forward-modeling framework is developed to interpret the multiwavelength properties of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and provide insights into the overlap and incompleteness of samples selected at different parts of the…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2020-10-21 Antonis Georgakakis , Angel Ruiz , Stephanie M. LaMassa

Variability of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) has long been servicing as an essential avenue of exploring the accretion physics of black hole (BH). There are two commonly used methods for analyzing AGN variability. First, the AGN…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-07-04 Zhen-Bo Su , Zhen-Yi Cai , Mouyuan Sun , Hengxiao Guo , Wei-Min Gu , Jun-Xian Wang

We present a study of variability time scales in a large sample of Active Galactic Nuclei at several frequencies between 4.8 and 230 GHz. We investigate the differences of various AGN types and frequencies and correlate the measured time…

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) sources feature supermassive black holes that launch relativistic plasma jets. They are key $\gamma$-ray sources providing a unique laboratory for studying extreme particle acceleration and plasma physics.…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2026-02-03 Luana Passos-Reis , Elisabete M. de Gouveia Dal Pino , Tarek Hassan , Santiago Pita , Alberto Domínguez

Most investigations of the X-ray variability of active galactic nuclei (AGN) have been concentrated on the detailed analyses of individual, nearby sources. A relatively small number of studies have treated the ensemble behaviour of the more…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2016-09-21 F. Vagnetti , R. Middei , M. Antonucci , M. Paolillo , R. Serafinelli

The normalized excess variance is a popular method used by many authors to estimate the variability of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), especially in the X-ray band. We show that this estimator is affected by the cosmological time dilation,…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2016-03-23 Riccardo Middei , Fausto Vagnetti , Marco Antonucci , Roberto Serafinelli

The long term X-ray spectral variability of ten active galactic nuclei (AGN) shows a positive spectral index-flux correlation for each object (Sobolewska & Papadakis 2009). An inner advection dominated accretion flow (ADAF) may connect to a…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-06-22 Xinwu Cao , Jun-Xian Wang

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

We present the properties of active galactic nuclei (AGN) selected by optical variability in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field (SXDF). Based on the locations of variable components and light curves, 211 optically variable AGN were reliably…

Changing-look (CL) Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), characterized by appearance/disappearance of broad emission lines in the span of a few years, present a challenge for the AGN unified model, whereby the Type 1 vs. Type 2 dichotomy results…

Most of the variability studies of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are based on ensemble analyses. Nevertheless, it is interesting to provide estimates of the individual variability properties of each AGN, in order to relate them with…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2020-11-17 M. Laurenti , F. Vagnetti , R. Middei , M. Paolillo

Motivated by upcoming photometric and spectroscopic surveys (Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), Manuakea Spectroscopic Explorer), we design the statistical proxies to measure the cadence effects on active…

The advent of new time domain surveys and the imminent increase in astronomical data expose the shortcomings in traditional time series analysis (such as power spectra analysis) in characterising the abundantly varied, complex and…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2020-07-22 R. A. Phillipson , P. T. Boyd , A. P. Smale , M. S. Vogeley

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are characterized by emission of radiation over more than 10 orders of magnitude in frequency. Therefore, the execution of extensive surveys of the sky, with different types of detectors, is providing the…

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are believed to be powered by accretion of matter onto a supermassive black hole. A fundamental ingredient in shaping our understanding of AGN is their variability across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-09-08 Maurizio Paolillo , Iossif Papadakis

Understanding the connection between active galactic nuclei and star-formation (the AGN-SF connection) is one of the longest standing problems in modern astrophysics. In the age of large Integral Field Unit (IFU) surveys, studies of the…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-03-11 Aman Chopra , Henry R. M. Zovaro , Rebecca L. Davies

The variability of the X-ray spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) usually includes a change of the spectral slope. This has been investigated for a small sample of local AGNs by Sobolewska and Papadakis, who found that slope variations…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2016-03-23 Roberto Serafinelli , Fausto Vagnetti , Riccardo Middei

Variability has proven to be a powerful tool to detect active galactic nuclei (AGN) in multi-epoch surveys. The new-generation facilities expected to become operational in the next few years will mark a new era in time-domain astronomy and…

In this study, we demonstrate some of the caveats in common statistical methods used for analysing astronomical variability timescales. We consider these issues specifically in the context of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and use a more…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-12-12 Sofia Kankkunen , Merja Tornikoski , Talvikki Hovatta

We use a sample of over 5000 active galactic nuclei (AGN) with extended morphologies at z<0.8 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to study the ensemble optical variability as a function of rest-frame time lag and AGN luminosity with…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2014-10-01 Unai Gallastegui-Aizpun , Vicki L. Sarajedini