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Related papers: Obscuration model of Variability in AGN

200 papers

We explore a detailed model in which the active galactic nucleus (AGN) obscuration results from the extinction of AGN radiation in a global flow driven by the pressure of infrared radiation on dust grains. We assume that external…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2012-03-15 A. Dorodnitsyn , T. Kallman , G. S. Bisnovatyi-Kogan

The variability of active galactic nuclei (AGN) has long held the promise of shedding light on their detailed structure, and possibly other astrophysical phenonema. Different emission mechanisms lead to different patterns of variability in…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-07 M. R. S. Hawkins

Unified schemes of active galactic nuclei (AGN) require an obscuring dusty torus around the central engine. The compact sizes (only a few pc) determined in recent high-resolution observations require that the obscuring matter be clumpy and…

Astrophysics · Physics 2011-02-11 Moshe Elitzur , Isaac Shlosman

We estimate a value of the viscosity parameter in AGN accretion discs for the PG quasar sample. We assume that optical variability on time-scales of months to years is caused by local instabilities in the inner accretion disc. Comparing the…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-10 Rhaana L. C. Starling , Aneta Siemiginowska , Phil Uttley , Roberto Soria

Rapid, large amplitude variability at optical to X-ray wavelengths is now seen in an increasing number of Seyfert galaxies and luminous quasars. The variations imply a global change in accretion power, but are too rapid to be communicated…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2018-11-28 Jason Dexter , Mitchell C. Begelman

Optically thick accretion disks are considered to be important ingredients of luminous AGN. The claim of their existence is well supported by observations and recent years brought some progress in understanding of their dynamics. However,…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 B. Czerny

We compiled a sample of 73 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with reverberation mapping (RM) observations from RM campaigns including our ongoing campaign of monitoring super-Eddington accreting massive black holes (SEAMBHs). This sample covers…

We present the discovery of a large gradual apparent fading event in optical and near-infrared wavelengths in a quasar at z=1.767 by a factor of 20-30 (in optical) over a period of ~20 years in the observed frame. This pronounced fading…

The truncation of an optically thick, geometrically thin accretion disk is investigated in the context of low luminosity AGN (LLAGN). We generalize the disk evaporation model used in the interpretative framework of black hole X-ray binaries…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-06-11 Ronald E. Taam , B. F. Liu , W. Yuan , E. Qiao

Optical observations cannot resolve the structure of active galactic nuclei (AGN), and a unified model for AGN was inferred mostly from indirect methods. Optical reverberation mapping allowed us to constrain the spatial dimension of the…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2017-12-05 P. A. Rojas Lobos , R. W. Goosmann , F. Marin , D. Savić

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

It is commonly believed that the optical/UV and X-ray emissions in luminous AGN are produced in an accretion disk and an embedded hot corona respectively. The inverse Compton scattering of disk photons by hot electrons in the corona can…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-05-05 B. F. Liu , R. E. Taam , E. Qiao , W. Yuan

We propose a model of the accretion flow onto a black hole consisting of the accretion disk with an accreting two-temperature corona. The model is based on assumptions about the radiative and conductive energy exchange between the two…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-31 B. Czerny , A. Rozanska , A. Janiuk , P. T. Zycki

Multi-scale simulations have made it possible to follow gas inflows onto massive black holes (BHs) from galactic scales to the accretion disk. When sufficient gas is driven towards the BH, gravitational instabilities generically form…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2012-06-22 Philip F. Hopkins , Christopher C. Hayward , Desika Narayanan , Lars Hernquist

Context: Accretion onto galactic and supermassive black holes occurs in different modes, which are documented in hard and soft spectral states, commonly attributed to an advection-dominated flow (ADAF) inside a truncated disk and standard…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-11 F. Meyer , B. F. Liu , E. Meyer-Hofmeister

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) show evidence for reprocessing gas, outflowing from the accreting black hole. The combined effects of absorption and scattering from the circumnuclear material likely explains the `hard excess' of X-ray emission…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2016-02-17 M. M. Tatum , T. J. Turner , L. Miller , J. N. Reeves , J. DiLiello , J. Gofford , A. Patrick , M. Clayton

The UV-X continuum, the X-ray spectral features, and the variability in these bands provide powerful tools for studying the innermost regions of AGNs from which we gain an insight into the accretion process. In this chapter the discussion…

Astrophysics · Physics 2016-11-03 Suzy Collin

AGN variability offers a direct probe of accretion physics, disk structure, and black hole growth, but progress has been limited by sample size, cadence heterogeneity, and photometric systematics. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey…

The $\alpha$ turbulent viscosity formalism for accretion discs must be interpreted as a mean field theory. The extent to which the disc scale exceeds that of the turbulence determines the precision of the predicted luminosity $L_\nu$. The…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-30 Eric G. Blackman

The structure of the accretion flow onto supermassive black holes (SMBH) is not well understood. Standard disc models match to zeroth order in predicting substantial energy dissipation within optically-thick material producing a…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2024-10-02 Scott Hagen , Chris Done , John D. Silverman , Junyao Li , Teng Liu , Wenke Ren , Johannes Buchner , Andrea Merloni , Tohru Nagao , Mara Salvato