The Variability of Hardness Ratio 1 observed by ROSAT： Narrow—Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies versus Broad—Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies

We examined the correlation between the ROSAT Hardness Ratio 1 and Count Rates eight Narrow-line Seyfert 1 Galaxies (NLS1s) and 14 Broad-line Seyfert 1 Galaxies (BLS1s). We found that six of the NLS1s show a positive HR1-CTs correlation, and seven of the BLS1s, a negative correlation. The other two NLS1s and seven BLS1s do not show any clear HR1-CTs correlation. Thus, the spectral behavior is statistically different for the NLS1s and BLS1s. The different behaviors can possibly be interpreted in terms of a stable ‘soft excess’ that is strong in NLS1s and weak in BLS1s, plus a power law component, common to both, which softens with increasing flux.     

On the Black Hole - Bulge Mass Ratios in Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies

We present estimated ratios of the central black hole mass to the bulge mass (Mbh/Mbulge) for 15 Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s). It is found that NLS1s apparently have lower mass ratios: the average mass ratio is about 1 × 10-4 with a spread of 2, which is one order of magnitude lower than for Broad Line AGNs and quiescent galaxies. This lower value, as compared to that established essentially for all other types of galaxies, can be accounted for by an underestimation of the black hole masses and an overestimation of the bulge masses in the NLS1s.     

An XMM–Newton observation of Mkn 3 – a Seyfert galaxy just over the edge

A 100-ks XMM–Newton observation of the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy Mkn 3 offers a unique opportunity to explore the complexity of its X-ray spectrum. We find the  ∼3–8 keV  continuum to be dominated by reflection from cold matter, with fluorescent K-shell lines detected from Ni, Fe, Ca, Ar, S, Si and Mg. At higher energies an intrinsic power-law continuum, with canonical Seyfert 1 photon index, is seen through a near-Compton-thick cold absorber. A soft excess below ∼3 keV is found to be dominated by line emission from an outflow of 'warm' gas, photoionized and photoexcited by the intrinsically strong X-ray continuum. Measured blueshifts in the strong Fe Kα and O  vii and O  viii emission lines are discussed in terms of the properties of the putative molecular torus and ionized outflow.     

SDSSJ022119.84＋005628.4： A Radio-Loud Narrow-LineSeyfert 1 Galaxy with Star Formation in its Nucleus

The optical spectrum of SDSS J022119.84 + 005628.4 (R. A. = 02h 21m 19.84s, Dec = 00°56' 28.4", J2000; z = 0.399785 ± 0.000558) is analyzed by multi-component profile modelling. The small flux ratio of [OⅢ]NC/Hβ (=0.78) and FWHM(HβBC) = 1778.1 ±85.9 km s-1 led us to identify SDSS J022119.84 + 005628.4 as a Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy with RFe= 1.4-1.0+1.0 and intermediate radio loudness, logR = 1.93. The continuum low jump at the Balmer limit might be contributed by a starburst component, which suggests that the object is a relatively young AGN with star-formation activity in its inner region. This provides a useful observational test of the AGN evolution. The low flux ratio of the narrow components, [OⅢ]/Hβ = 1.62, and the prominent [OⅡ]γ3727 emission, [OⅡ]/[OⅢ] = 2.24, suggests that there should be a group of AGNs different from Seyfert 2s when their broad line regions are obscured by the torus on the line of sight. A possible orientation effect is suggested to interpret the observed Seyf     

The X-ray spectra of Compton-thick Seyfert 2 galaxies as seen by BeppoSAX

Results from BeppoSAX observations of Compton-thick Seyfert 2 galaxies are summarized and reviewed, and their general properties derived and discussed. In five out of the seven observed sources, the nucleus is directly visible at high X-ray energies, where the photons penetrate absorbers with column densities in the range 1.1–4.3×10²⁴ cm⁻² (in the other two sources, NGC 1068 and NGC 7674, the nucleus is instead totally obscured at all energies, implying even larger column densities). In most sources there is unambiguous evidence of a reflection component from optically thick, cold matter, while in two (or maybe four) cases there is also evidence of reflection from ionized matter. For the sources with a measured X-ray luminosity, a comparison with the infrared luminosity is made; while in two cases (the Circinus galaxy and NGC 4945) the IR emission appears to be dominated by starburst activity, in the other three sources (NGC 6240, Mrk 3 and TOL 0109-383) it is likely to be dominated by reprocessing of the UV and X-ray photons emitted by an active galactic nucleus.     

The X-ray spectra of optically selected Seyfert 2 galaxies: are there any Seyfert 2 galaxies with no absorption?

We present an X-ray spectral analysis of a sample of eight bona fide Seyfert 2 galaxies, selected on the basis of their high [O  iii ] λ 5007 flux, from the Ho et al. spectroscopic sample of nearby galaxies. We find that, in general, the X-ray spectra of our Seyfert 2 galaxies are complex, with some of our objects having spectra different from the 'typical' spectrum of X-ray selected Seyfert 2 galaxies. Two (NGC 3147 and 4698) show no evidence for intrinsic absorption. We suggest that this is a result of the fact that when the torus suppresses the intrinsic medium and hard energy flux, underlying emission from the host galaxy, originating in circumnuclear starbursts, and scattering from warm absorbers contributes in these energy bands more significantly. Our ASCA data alone cannot discriminate whether low-absorption objects are Compton-thick active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with a strong scattered component or lack an obscuring torus. The most striking example of our low absorption Seyfert 2 is NGC 4698. Its spectrum could be explained by either a dusty warm absorber or a lack of broad-line clouds so that its appearance as a Seyfert 2 is intrinsic and not a result of absorption.     

Near-infrared spectra of Seyfert galaxies and line production mechanisms

New observations are reported of J -band spectra (1.04–1.4 μm) of three Seyfert 2 galaxies, Mkn 34, Mkn 78 and NGC 5929. In each case the spectral range includes the near-infrared lines of [Fe  ii ], [P  ii ], He  i and Paβ. Each Seyfert galaxy has a known radio jet, and we investigate the infrared line ratios of the nuclear and extended regions of each galaxy compared to the radio structure. In Mkn 34 there is a clear indication of an extranuclear region, probably coincident with a shock induced by the radio jet, in which [Fe  ii ] is considerably enhanced, although the nuclear emission is almost certainly the result of photoionization by the continuum of the active nucleus. Similar effects in extranuclear regions are seen in the other objects, in the case of Mkn 78 confirming recent studies by Ramos Almeida et al. A possible detection of extranuclear [P  ii ] emission suggests, if real, that photoionization by the active nucleus is the dominant line excitation mechanism over the whole source, including the regions coincident with the radio jet.     

Discovery of Five Narrow－Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies and Implications on the NLS1 Model

We report the discovery of five Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLSls) identified from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey bright sources. One of them has a quasarlike luminosity and two, including the quasar-like one, have close companions and/or show interacting features. We calculate the central black hole masses and Eddington ratios for the five NLSls. In combination with the objects of Kaspi et al., we find that NLSls have smaller central black hole masses and higher accretion rate than normal Seyfert ls.     

Ultrasoft narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies and X-ray surveys

Note from the editor: This article is a re-print of the original, which appeared in Astron. Nachr. 319 (1/2), 7 (1998). In the original version the figure was ruined in the process of paper production and the scientific content of the paper considerably degraded. Instead of printing only the correct figure, thus loosing the scientific context, we decided to re-print the whole article. We describe how recent X-ray surveys have led to advances in the understanding of ultrasoft narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies. The number of known ultrasoft narrow-line Seyfert 1s has increased greatly in recent years due to X-ray surveys, and it is now possible to obtian high quality 0.1–10 keV spectral and variability measurements for a large number of these galaxies. We generalize some of the correlations between X-ray properties and optical emission line properties,focusing on how the ROSAT band spectral slope appears to be directly connected to the Boroson & Green (1992) primary eigenvector. We discuss how ultrasoft narrow-line Seyfert 1s may well have extremal values of a primary physical parameter, and we describe new projects that should further improve our understanding of these extreme representatives of Seyfert activity.     

Stellar velocity dispersion in narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies

Several authors have recently explored, for narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s), the relationship between black hole mass ( M _BH) and stellar velocity dispersion (σ_*). Their results are more or less in agreement and seem to indicate that NLS1s fill the region below the fit obtained by Tremaine et al., showing a range of σ_* similar to that of Seyfert 1 galaxies, and a lower M _BH. Until now, the [O  iii ] width has been used in place of the stellar velocity dispersion, but some indications have begun to arise against the effectiveness of the gaseous kinematics in representing the bulge potential, at least in NLS1s. Bian & Zhao have stressed the urgency of producing true σ_* measurements. Here, we present new stellar velocity dispersions obtained through direct measurements of the Ca  ii absorption triplet (∼8550 Å) in the nuclei of eight NLS1 galaxies. The resulting σ_* values and a comparison with σ_[O III] confirm our suspicion that [O  iii ] typically overestimates the stellar velocity dispersion. We demonstrate that NLS1s follow the   M _BH–σ_*  relation as Seyfert 1, quasars and non-active galaxies.     

X-ray variability of the Seyfert 1 Markarian 335: power spectrum and time lags

To investigate further the comparison between active galactic nuclei (AGN) and black hole X-ray binaries, we have studied the main X-ray variability properties of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 335. We put particular emphasis on the X-ray time lags, which is a potentially important diagnostic of physical models. From a 100 ks observation by XMM–Newton , we show that the power spectrum of this source is well fitted by a bending power-law model, and the bend time-scale T _b is precisely at the value predicted by the T _b versus Hβ linewidth relation of McHardy et al. Variations in different energy bands show time-scale-dependent time lags, where higher energy bands lag lower ones. The lag, τ, varies as a function of the Fourier frequency, f , of the variability component in the light curves as  τ∝ f ⁻¹  at low frequencies, but there is a sharp cut-off in the lags at a frequency close to the bend frequency in the power spectrum. Similar behaviour is seen in black hole X-ray binary systems. The length of the time lags increases continuously with energy separation, in an almost loglinear relation. We show that the lag spectra can be produced by fluctuations propagating through the accretion flow as long as the energy spectrum of the X-ray emitting region hardens towards the centre.     

The Difference between the α-disks of Seyfert 1 Galaxiesand Quasars

In a previous paper, it was suggested that contamination of the nuclear luminosity by the host galaxy plays an important role in determining the parameters of the standard a disk of AGNs. Using the nuclear absolute B band magnitude instead of the total absolute B band magnitude, we have recalculated the central black hole masses, accretion rates and disk inclinations for 20 Seyfert 1 galaxies and 17 Palomar-Green (PG) quasars. It is found that a small value of a is needed for the Seyfert 1 galaxies than for the PG quasars. This difference in a possibly leads to the different properties of Seyfert 1 galaxies and quasars. Furthermore, we find most of the objects in this sample are not accreting at super-Eddington rates if we adopt the nuclear optical luminosity in our calculation.     

Discovery of Five Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies and Im- plications on the NLS1 Model

We report the discovery of five Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLSls) identified from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey bright sources. One of them has a quasar-like luminosity and two, including the quasar-like one, have close companions and/or show interacting features. We calculate the central black hole masses and Eddington ratios for the five NLSls. In combination with the objects of Kaspi et al., we find that NLSls have smaller central black hole masses and higher accretion rate than normal Seyfert 1s.     

Stellar indices and kinematics in Seyfert 1 nuclei

We present spectra of six type 1 and two type 2 Seyfert galaxies, a starburst galaxy and a compact narrow-line radio galaxy, taken in two spectral ranges centred around the near-infrared Ca  ii triplet (∼8600 Å), and the Mgb stellar feature at 5180 Å. We measured the equivalent widths (EWs) of these features and the Fe₅₂ and Fe₅₃ spectral indices.
We found that the strength of the infrared Ca  ii triplet (CaT) in type 1 Seyfert galaxies with prominent central point sources is larger than what would be expected from the observed strength of the blue indices. This could be explained by the presence of red supergiants in the nuclei of Seyfert 1 galaxies. On the other hand, the blue indices of these galaxies could also be diluted by the strong Fe  ii multiplets that can be seen in their spectra.
We have also measured the stellar‐ and gas-velocity dispersions of the galaxies in the sample. The stellar velocity dispersions were measured using both the Mgb and CaT stellar features. The velocity dispersion of the gas in the narrow-line region (NLR) was measured using the strong emission lines [O  iii ] λλ 5007, 4959 and [S  iii ] λ 9069. We compare the gas- and star-velocity dispersions and find that the magnitudes of both are correlated in Seyfert galaxies.
Most of the Seyfert 1 galaxies that we observe have stellar‐velocity dispersions somewhat greater than that of the gas in the NLR.