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Related papers: Variability of Active Galactic Nuclei

200 papers

A wide-frequency radio study of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is crucial to evaluate the intervening radiative mechanisms responsible for the observed emission and relate them with the underlying accretion physics. We present wide frequency…

The variable continuum emission of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) produces corresponding responses in the broad emission lines, which are modulated by light travel delays, and contain information on the physical properties, structure, and…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2023-11-08 Sara Rosborough , Andrew Robinson , Triana Almeyda , Madison Noll

The continuum variability of optically selected Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is found to be consistent with that expected from a simple Poissonian process, in which the total luminosity of an object is produced by the multiple superposition…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Itziar Aretxaga

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…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2017-09-07 Raffaella Morganti

Continuum reverberation mapping probes the size scale of the optical continuum-emitting region in active galactic nuclei (AGN). The source of this emission has long been thought to originate from the accretion disk, but recent studies…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-11-11 Jake A. Miller , Edward M. Cackett , Misty C. Bentz , Michael R. Goad , Kirk T. Korista , Ian M. McHardy

The cores of active galactic nuclei (AGN) harbor some of the most extreme conditions of matter and energy in the Universe. One of the major goals of high-energy astrophysics is to probe these extreme environments in the vicinity of…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-31 K. A. Weaver

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are variable on a wide range of timescales, though relatively few systematic variability surveys have been conducted. Previous broad-band (both spectral and temporal) variability surveys of AGN are limited in…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Jonathan E. Grindlay

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are axisymmetric systems to first order; their observed properties are likely strong functions of inclination with respect to our line of sight, yet the specific inclinations of all but a few AGN are generally…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-06-18 T. C. Fischer , D. M. Crenshaw , S. B. Kraemer , H. R. Schmitt , T. J. Turner

High cadence, high quality observations of active galactic nuclei (AGN) clearly show continuum variations with lags, relative to the shortest observed variable UV continuum, that increase with wavelength ("lag spectra"). These have been…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2021-11-17 Hagai Netzer

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

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

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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2016-08-30 Thierry J. -L. Courvoisier

Growing supermassive black holes (Active Galactic Nuclei; AGN) release energy with the potential to alter their host galaxies and larger-scale environment; a process named "AGN feedback". Feedback is a required component of galaxy formation…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-04-15 Chris M. Harrison , Cristina Ramos Almeida

A common feature of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is their random variations in brightness across the whole emission spectrum, from radio to $\gamma$-rays. Studying the nature and origin of these fluctuations is critical to characterising…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-10-17 Mehdy Lefkir , Simon Vaughan , Daniela Huppenkothen , Phil Uttley , Vysakh Anilkumar

A summary critique is presented of the topics discussed at a workshop entitled ``Probing the Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei by Multi-wavelength Monitoring'' held at Goddard Space Flight Center 21-23 June 2000. Particular emphasis is…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 R. D. Blandford

We combine Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) data for $\sim100$ active galactic nuclei (AGN) available from the Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA) 2 cm imaging survey and optical spectroscopy to investigate the relationships in the…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 T. G. Arshakian , V. H. Chavushyan , E. Ros , M. Kadler , J. A. Zensus

Short-term variability of X-ray spectra has been reported for several Active Galactic Nuclei. Significant X-ray flux variations are observed within time scales down to 10^4 -- 10^5 seconds. We discuss short variability time scales in the…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 R. W. Goosmann , B. Czerny , A. -M. Dumont , M. Mouchet , A. Rozanska , V. Karas , M. Dovciak

We examine whether the spectral energy distribution of optical continuum emission of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) changes during flux variation, based on accurate and frequent monitoring observations of 11 nearby Seyfert galaxies and QSOs…

Over three decades of reverberation mapping (RM) studies on local broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have measured reliable black-hole (BH) masses for $> 100$ AGNs. These RM measurements reveal a significant correlation between the…

Reverberation mapping is now a well-established technique for investigating spatially-unresolved structures in the nuclei of distant galaxies with actively-accreting supermassive black holes. Structural parameters for the broad…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2020-09-09 Misty C. Bentz