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Related papers: A systematic search for changing-look quasars in S…

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We present second epoch optical spectra for 30 changing-look (CL) candidates found by searching for Type-1 optical variability in a sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) spectroscopically classified as Type 2. We use a random-forest-based…

We develop a simple method to search for changing-look (CL) active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates, and conduct a test run. In this method, optical variations of AGNs are monitored and CL-AGNs may appear to have a pattern of being bluer…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-12-18 Li-tao Zhu , Zhongxiang Wang , P. U. Devanand , Alok C. Gupta , Karan Dogra , Jie Li , Ju-Jia Zhang , Shun-hao Ji , Si-si Sun

Changing-look active galactic nuclei (CLAGNs) show the appearance and disappearance of broad emission lines in their UV/optical spectra on timescales of months to decades. Here, we investigate how CL transitions depend on several AGN…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-01-08 A. Jana , C. Ricci , M. J. Temple , H. -K. Chang , E. Shablovinskaya , B. Trakhtenbrot , Y. Diaz , D. Ilic , P. Nandi , M. Koss

Context. Changing-look active galactic nuclei (CL-AGNs) challenge the unified model of AGNs and offer key insights into the physics of the accretion processes of super-massive black holes. While systematic spectroscopic comparisons have…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-05-26 Litao Zhu , Zhongxiang Wang , Alok C. Gupta , P. U. Devanand , Ruoheng Yang , Qiangmeng Huang , Man Lang , Jiawen Li

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…

Changing-Look (CL) is a rare phenomenon of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) that exhibit emerging or disappearing broad lines accompanied by continuum variations on astrophysically short timescales ($\lesssim$ 1 yr to a few decades). While…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-12-12 Hengxiao Guo , Mouyuan Sun , Xin Liu , Tinggui Wang , Minzhi Kong , Shu Wang , Zhenfeng Sheng , Zhicheng He

We here report a spectroscopic identification of two new changing-look AGNs (CL-AGNs): SDSS\,J104705.16+544405.8 and SDSS\,J120447.91+170256.8 both with a "turn-off" type transition from type 1 to type 1.8/1.9. The identification is arrived…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2020-01-08 J. Wang , D. W. Xu , Y. Wang , J. B. Zhang , J. Zheng , J. Y. Wei

The nature of the so-called ``changing-look'' (CL) active galactic nucleus (AGN), which is characterized by spectral-type transitions within $\sim10$~yr, remains an open question. As the first in our series of studies, we here attempt to…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2023-09-22 J. Wang , W. K. Zheng , T. G. Brink , D. W. Xu , A. V. Filippenko , C. Gao , C. H. Xie , J. Y. Wei

Changing-look Active Galactic Nuclei (CL AGNs) exhibit drastic variations in broad emission lines (BELs), the mechanism of which remains unclear. Expanding the sample of CL AGNs is helpful to reveal the mechanism. This study aims to…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-04-24 Qian Dong , Zhi-Xiang Zhang , Wei-Min Gu , Mouyuan Sun , Yong-Gang Zheng

The discovery of changing-look active galactic nuclei (CL AGNs), with appearance and disappearance of broad emission lines and/or with strong variation of line-of-sight column density within a few years, challenges the AGN unification…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-12-10 Hao liu , Qingwen Wu , Bing Lyu , Zhen Yan

Changing look active-galatic-nuclei (CL AGNs) can yield considerable insight into accretion physics as well as the co-evolution of black holes and their host galaxies. A large sample of these CL AGNs is essential to achieve the latter goal.…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2020-02-05 Zhenfeng Sheng , Tinggui Wang , Ning Jiang , Jiani Ding , Zheng Cai , Hengxiao Guo , Luming Sun , Liming Dou , Chenwei Yang

The structure of accretion flows in low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGN) at low Eddington ratios (~10^-2 to 10^-3) are poorly-understood, and can be probed using the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of faded changing-look (CL)…

We present the first systematic search for "changing-look" ("CL") behavior in the broad He ii $\lambda$4686 emission line in quasars, utilizing repeated spectroscopy from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The He ii line, originating from…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-10-09 Wentao Lu , Jun-Xian Wang

The repeating changing-look active galactic nuclei (RCL AGNs) exhibit multiple appearances and disappearances of broad emission lines (BELs), whose underlying mechanism remains a puzzle. Expanding the sample of RCL AGNs is valuable for…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-10-22 Qian Dong , Zhi-Xiang Zhang , Wei-Min Gu , Mouyuan Sun , Wei-Jian Guo , Zhen-Yi Cai , Jun-Xian Wang , Yong-Gang Zheng

Hundreds of Type 2 quasars have been identified in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data, and there is substantial evidence that they are generally galaxies with highly obscured central engines, in accord with unified models for active…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-17 A. J. Barth , A. Voevodkin , D. J. Carson , P. Woźniak

Two major challenges to unification schemes for active galactic nuclei (AGN) are the existence of Narrow-Line Seyfert 1s (NLS1s) and the existence of changing-look (CL) AGNs. AGNs can drastically change their spectral appearance in the…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-07-09 Victor L. Oknyansky , Konstantin L. Malanchev , C. Martin Gaskell

Changing-look quasars are a recently identified class of active galaxies in which the strong UV continuum and/or broad optical hydrogen emission lines associated with unobscured quasars either appear or disappear on timescales of months to…

Changing-look active galactic nuclei (CL-AGNs) exhibit dramatic spectral variability on unexpectedly short timescales, challenging standard accretion flow models. Despite growing samples, the physical drivers of this extreme variability,…

Determining the frequency and duration of changing--look (CL) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) phenomena, where the optical broad emission lines appear or disappear, is crucial to understand the evolution of the accretion flow around…