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Related papers: Systematic Analysis of Changing-look AGN Variabili…

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The extremes of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) variability offer valuable new insights into the drivers and physics of AGN. We discuss some of the most extreme cases of AGN variability; the highest amplitudes, deep minima states, extreme…

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,…

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) that show strong rest-frame optical/UV variability in their blue continuum and broad line emission are classified as "changing-look" AGN, or at higher luminosities changing look quasars (CLQs). These…

Changing-Look AGN (CL-AGN) are AGN which transition between Seyfert types, challenging AGN unification models. Most CL-AGN have been identified via repeat spectroscopy, making it difficult to determine the duration and magnitude of the…

The Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) glossary is vast and complex. Depending on selection method, observing wavelength, and brightness, AGNs are assigned distinct labels, yet the relationship between different selection methods and the…

We report the finding of four changing-look (CL) active galactic nuclei (AGN). We selected these sources due to their potential as interesting targets when considering their relatively-large optical flux variations and related mid-infrared…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-04-17 Litao Zhu , Jie Li , Zhongxiang Wang , Jujia Zhang

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

The rare case of changing-look (CL) AGNs, with the appearance or disappearance of broad Balmer emission lines within a few years, challenges our understanding of the AGN unified model. We present a sample of 21 new CL AGNs at $0.08<z<0.58$,…

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

Optical variability is a key observational probe for studying the accretion dynamics and central engine physics of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). The quality and completeness of light curves have a direct impact on variability studies,…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-10-31 Jiaqi Lin , Zhen-Ya Zheng , Bin Ma , Lin Long , Yangfan Xie , Pu Lin , Ruqiu Lin , Xiang Ji

Changing-look active galactic nuclei (CLAGNs) represent a rare class of AGNs that undergo transitions from type 1 (characterized by the presence of broad emission lines in their spectra) to type 2 (absence of broad emission lines) or vice…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-01-22 D. Hutsemékers , F. Marin , B. Agis González , J. -A. Acosta Pulido , M. Kokubo

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are known to exhibit optical/UV variability and most of them can be well modeled by the damped random walks. Physical processes that are not related to the accretion disk, such as tidal disruption events (TDE)…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-04-17 Zhiyuan Zheng , Yong Shi , Shuowen Jin , H. Dannerbauer , Qiusheng Gu , Xin Li , Xiaoling Yu

Low luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGN) probe accretion physics in the low Eddington regime and can provide additional clues about galaxy evolution. AGN variability is ubiquitous and thus provides a reliable tool for finding AGN. We…

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

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…

Changing-look active galactic nuclei (CLAGNs) are known to change their spectral type between 1 and 2 (changing-state) or change their absorption between Compton-thick and Compton-thin (changing-obscuration) on timescales of years or less.…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-01-17 Bing Lyu , Zhen Yan , Xue-bing Wu , Qingwen Wu , Wenfei Yu , Hao Liu

We present the multi-wavelength and environmental properties of 37 variability-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs), including 30 low luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs), using a high cadence time-domain survey (ASAS-SN) from a spectroscopic sample…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-01-30 Heechan Yuk , Xinyu Dai , Marko Mićić

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

The phenomenon of changing-look (CL) behavior in active galactic nuclei (AGN) is characterized by dramatic changes in luminosity and/or emission line profiles over relatively short periods, ranging from months to years. The origin of…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2024-06-19 Yihan Wang , Matthew J. Graham , K. E. Saavik Ford , Barry McKernan , Taeho Ryu , Daniel Stern