Comptonization and Reprocessing Processes in Accretion Disks： Applications to the Seyfert 1 Galaxies NGC 5548 and NGC 4051

Simultaneous multi-wavelength observations have revealed complex variability in AGNs. To explain the variability we considered a theoretical model consisting of an inner hot comptonizing corona and an outer thin accretion disk, with interactions between the two components in the form of comptonization and reprocessing. We found that the variability of AGNs is strongly affected by the parameters of the model, namely, the truncated disk radius rmin, the corona radius rs, the temperature KTe and the optical depth τ0 of the corona. We applied this model to the two best observed Seyfert 1 galaxies, NGC 5548 and NGC 4051. Our model can reproduce satisfactory the observed SEDs. Our fits indicate that NGC 5548 may have experienced dramatic changes in physical parameters between 1989-1990 and 1998, and that NGC 4051 has a much larger truncated disk radius (700 Schwarzschild radii) than NGC 5548 (several tens of Schwarzschild radii). Since we adopted a more refined treatment of the comptonization process rather than simply assuming a cut-off power law, our results should be more reasonable than the previous ones.     

Relation between the ＂Double-Hump＂ Behavior in the Radio Band and the Broad-Line Luminosity for Blazars

The physics behind the spectral energy distribution (SED) of blazars remains open.We assembled 36 blazars to tackle the factors that control their SED. Now, many blazar spectra have the "double hump" feature in the radio and far-IR frequencies. For these a parameter,△, is created to characterize the behavior of the SED. We found a significant correlation between the broad-line luminosity (LBLR) and △. Because LBLR is an indicator of the accreting power of the source in blazars, we derived a linear correlation,△∝ (M)1/3. 18, which suggests that the SED of blazars may depend on the accretion rate, like that of BL Lac objects. We also found a significant correlation between (m) and△ for a sample of 11 blazars (out of one of 36)with available black hole masses. This implies the Eddington accretion ratio may influence the shape of the SED of blazars.     

The advection-dominated accretion flow＋thin accretion disk model for two low-luminosity active galactic nuclei： M81 and NGC 4579

It was found that advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF)+thin disk model calculations can reproduce the observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of two low- luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs), provided they are accreting at ～ 0.01 - 0.03 Eddington rates and the thin disks are truncated to ADAFs at～ 100Rs (Rs is the Schwarzschild radius) for M81 and NGC 4579 (Quataert et al. 1999). However, the black hole masses adopted in their work are about one order of magnitude lower than recent measurements on these two sources. Adopting the well estimated black hole masses, our ADAF+thin disk model calculations can reproduce the observed SEDs of these two low- luminosity AGNs, if the black hole is accreting at 2.5 × 10-4 Eddington rates with the thin disk truncated at Rtr = 120Rs for M81 ((m) = 3.3 × 10-3 and Rtr = 80Rs are required for NGC 4579). The transition zones with temperature from the thin disk with 104 - 105 to～109 - 1010 K in the ADAF will inevitably emit thermal X-ray lines, which provides a useful diagnosis of their physical properties. The observed widths of the thermal X-ray iron lines at(～)6.8 keV are consistent with Doppler broadening by Keplerian motion of the gases in the transition zones at～100Rs. We use the structure of the transition zone between the ADAF and the thin disk derived by assuming the turbulent diffusive heat mechanism to calculate their thermal X-ray line emission with the standard software package Astrophysical Plasma Emission Code (APEC). Comparing them with the equivalent widths of the observed thermal X-ray iron lines in these two sources, we find that the turbulent diffusive heat mechanism seems to be unable to reproduce the ob- served thermal X-ray line emission. The test of the evaporation model for the accretion mode transition with the observed thermal X-ray line emission is briefly discussed.     

The Origin of Infrared Emission from the Infrared Luminous Galaxy NGC 4418

We present a study of the origin of infrared (IR) emission in the optically normal, infrared luminous galaxy NGC 4418. By decomposing the stellar absorption features and continua in the range of 3600-8000 A from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey into a set of simple stellar populations, we derive the stellar properties for the nuclear region of NGC 4418. We compare the observed infrared luminosity with the one derived from the starburst model, and find that star-forming activity contributes only 7% to the total IR emission, that as the IR emission region is spatially very compact, the most possible source for the greater part of the IR emission is a deeply embedded AGN, though an AGN component is found to be unnecessary for fitting the optical spectrum.     

UBVVI Surface Photometry of the Spiral Galaxy NGC 300 in the Sculptor Group

We present UBVI surface photometry over a 20.5' × 20.5' area of the late-type spiral galaxy NGC 300. We have derived isophotal maps, surface brightness profiles, ellipticity profiles, position angle profiles, and color profiles. By merging our I-band measurements with those of Boker et al. based on Hubble Space Telescope observations, we have obtained combined I-band surface brightness profiles for the region 0.02" < r < 500" and have decomposed the profiles into three components: a nucleus, a bulge, and an exponential disk.     

Precession of the super-massive black hole in NGC 1275 (3C 84)?

The X-ray holes at the centre of the Perseus cluster of galaxies are not all at the same position angle with respect to the centre of the cluster. This configuration would result if the jet inflating the bubbles is precessing, or moving around, and the bubbles detach at different times. The orientations which best fit the observed travel directions are an inclination of the precession axis to the line of sight of 120° and an opening angle of 50°. From the time-scales for the bubbles seen in the cluster, the precession time-scale, τ_prec, is around  3.3 × 10⁷ yr  . The bubbles rising up through different parts of the cluster may have interacted with the central cool gas, forming the whorl of cool gas observed in the temperature structure of the cluster. The dynamics of bubbles rising in fluids is discussed. The conditions present in the cluster are such that oscillatory motion, observed for bubbles rising in fluids on Earth, should take place. However, the time-scale for this motion is longer than that taken for the bubbles to evolve into spherical-cap bubbles, which do not undergo a path instability, so such motion is not expected to occur.     

The ultraluminous X-ray source population of NGC 4485/4490

We report the results of spectral and temporal variability studies of the ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) contained within the interacting pair of galaxies NGC 4485/4490, combining Chandra and XMM–Newton observations. Each of the four separate observations provide at least modest quality spectra and light curves for each of the six previously identified ULXs in this system; we also note the presence of a new transient ULX in the most recent observation. No short-term variability was observed for any ULX within our sample, but three out of five sources show correlated flux/spectral changes over longer time-scales, with two others remaining stable in spectrum and luminosity over a period of at least 5 yr. We model the spectra with simple power-law and multicolour disc blackbody models. Although the data are insufficient to statistically distinguish models in each epoch, those better modelled (in terms of their  χ²  fit) by a multicolour disc blackbody appear to show a disc-like correlation between luminosity and temperature, whereas those modelled by a power-law veer sharply away from such a relationship. The ULXs with possible correlated flux/spectral changes appear to change spectral form at  ∼2 × 10³⁹ erg s⁻¹  , suggestive of a possible change in spectral state at high luminosities. If this transition is occurring between the very high state and a super-Eddington ultraluminous state, it indicates that the mass of the black holes in these ULXs is around  10–15 M_⊙  .     

Images at 20 cm and the Spectrum Index of NGC 2997

We present total intensity maps of the galaxy NGC 2997 at frequencies 1435.1MHz (λ21cm) and 1652.4MHz (λ18cm) observed with the Very Large Array (VLA). The high spatial resolution allows us to distinguish two dominant arms. Using multi-frequency data, we separate the thermal and non-thermal contributions to the radio emission. The thermal emission is about 35% of the total emission at λ3 cm. We use it to estimate a space-averaged thermal     

The Variabilities of the Soft and Hard X—ray Components of NGC 7314 and NGC 7582 and the Distribution of Absorbing Matter in Type Ⅱ AGNs

ASCA observations of the two Type Ⅱ AGNs,NGC7314 and NGC 7582,show clear variations in the broad X-ray band(0.4-10keV)on short timescales-10^4s.Spectral analysis indicates that they bot have an absorbed hard X-ray component and an unabsorbed soft“excess” component.To clarify the origin of the latter,we made a cross-correlation analysis of the two components.The results show that,for NGC7314,the soft X-ray variability is proportional to that of the hard X-ray component.This indicates that the active nucleus of NGC 7314 must be partially covered and so the soft emission is a “leaking” of the variable hard component.For NGC 7582,there is no detectable variability in the soft component, although there is a definite one in the hard component.This indicates that the variable nucleus of NGC 7582 must be fully blocked by absorbing matter,and the soft emission is most likely the scattered component predicted by the AGN unified model.     

The Variabilities of the Soft and Hard X-ray Components of NGC 7314 and NGC 7582 and the Distribution of Absorbing Matter in Type II AGNs

ASCA observations of the two Type II AGNs, NGC 7314 and NGC 7582, show clear variations in the broad X-ray band (0.4-10keV) on short timescales - 104s. Spectral analysis indicates that they both have an absorbed hard X-ray component and an unabsorbed soft "excess" component. To clarify the origin of the latter, we made a cross-correlation analysis of the two components. The results show that, for NGC 7314, the soft X-ray variability is proportional to that of the hard X-ray component. This indicates that the active nucleus of NGC 7314 must be partially covered and so the soft emission is a "leaking" of the variable hard component. For NGC 7582, there is no detectable variability in the soft component, although there is a definite one in the hard component. This indicates that the variable nucleus of NGC 7582 must be fully blocked by absorbing matter, and the soft emission is most likely the scattered component predicted by the AGN unified model.     

The X-ray spectrum and variability of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 7172

We present evidence of flux variability, on both short (hours) and long (months) time-scales, of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 7172. These results are based on the ASCA observation of NGC 7172 performed in 1996 May. The source was detected at a rather low flux level, about 3 times fainter than its usual state (including 1 yr before, when it was also observed by ASCA ).   The source also varied by about 30 per cent during the observation, confirming the presence of a type 1 nucleus in its centre. However, its spectrum appears to be flatter than the typical Seyfert 1 spectrum (in agreement with findings on other Seyfert 2s), posing problems for the unification model unless complex absorption is invoked.