The ROSAT Bright Survey: I. Identification of an AGN sample with hard ROSAT X-ray spectra

The ROSAT Bright Survey (RBS) aims to completely optically identify the more than 2000 brightest sources detected in the ROSAT all-sky survey at galactic latitudes |b| > 30° (excluding LMC, SMC, Virgo cluster). This paper presents a subsample of 66 bright point-like ROSAT survey sources with almost hard PSPC spectra, the hardness ratio HR1 is > 0.5 for most of the sources. Teh subsample could be nearly completely identified by low-resolution optical spectroscopy with the following breakdown into object classes: 31 Seyfert galaxies, 22 BL Lac candidates, 5 clusters of galaxies, 1 cataclysmic variable, and 5 bright stars. Only one object remained unidentified and one X-ray source was a spurious detection. The redshift distrbution peaks around 0.06 for the Seyferts and around 0.13 for the BL Lac candidates. Observations with medium spectral resolution were obtained for most of the new Seyfert galaxies. A large fraction (20 objects) are type 1 Seyfert galaxies, the other fraction includes Seyfert galaxies of type 1.5 – 1.8 (5 objects), two LINERs, and 4 possible narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1). About one third of the new Seyfert's have nearby companion galaxies displaying either emission or absorption lines at the same redshift. Among them are a couple of systems showing direct morphological evidence for interaction. The large fraction of interacting galaxies among our sample suggests a scenario where interaction is the main trigger of AGN activity.     

Morphologies of AGN host galaxies using HST/ACS in the CDFS-GOODS field

Using HST/ACS images in four bands F435W, F606W, F775W and F850LP, we identify optical counterparts to the X-ray sources in the Chandra Deep Field South in the GOODS South field. A detailed study has been made of these sources to study their morphological types. We use methods like decomposition of galaxy luminosity profiles, color maps and visual inspection of 192 galaxies which are identified as possible optical counterparts of Chandra X-ray sources in the CDFS-GOODS field. We find that most moderate luminosity AGN hosts are bulge dominated in the redshift range (z≈0.4–1.3), but not merging/interacting galaxies. This implies probable fueling of the moderate luminosity AGN by mechanisms other than those merger driven.     

基于Chandra的活动星系核观测

活动星系核（AGN）是宇宙中最奇特的天体之一。它是真正意义上的全波天体，其中X射线波段的发射功率占到全波段功率的50％左右。AGN的X射线辐射研究涉及天体物理中的最基本问题，例如能量产生、辐射机制和宇宙论等，而Chandra X射线卫星的高分辨率图像和光谱对这一研究有着重要作用。以Chandra卫星的部分观测结果为例，简要介绍了几类不同类型AGN的X射线辐射研究进展：（1）宽吸收线类星体APM08279＋5255（z=3．91）的X射线谱分析，以及高红移类星体的观测概况；（2）Seyfert星系NGC 4151延展X射线发射问题的解决，及NGC 1068X射线辐射与光学波段的高激发态发射线（[OⅢ]λ5007）有很强相关性的发现；（3）6个BLLac天体样本的X射线环境分析；（4）射电星系X射线喷流的观测等。     

水脉泽寄主活动星系核的吸积率(英文)

水超脉泽辐射( 各向同性光度超过 10 个太阳光度) 通常在星系中心最内部的核区( 小于几个秒差距) 被发现,因而活动星系核被认为是其唯一的能量源。同其它没有检测到水脉泽辐射的活动星系核相比,水脉泽寄主活动星系核可能隐含着某种或某些特殊性质。基于此我们调研了已经公开发表的所有水脉泽源的 X 射线观测情况,得到了一个有 X 射线观测研究结果的子样本( 39 个源) 。由它们的 X 射线光度以及估算的黑洞质量,导出了它们的无量纲吸积率( logL2-10keV /LEdd,其中 L2-10keV和 LEdd分别是 2 - 10keV 的固有光度和爱丁顿光度) ; 与距离范围相当的、没有检测到水脉泽的活动星系核样本相比,发现脉泽寄主活动星系核有较高的吸积率。进一步分析比较这两个活动星系核样本的质量吸积率,也发现类似的趋势。此外,为了探索吸积率和水脉泽辐射间可能的内在联系,我们对它们的脉泽光度和吸积率进行了统计分析,然而结果显示二者之间没有明显的相关性。     

射电选和X射线选BL Lacertae天体的射电性质

收集了射电选和X射线选BL Lac天体的射电数据(包括核和延展光度), 并计算了它们的核主导系数R.研究显示: 射电选BL Lac(RBLs)天体的总射电光度是X射线选BL Lac(XBLs)天体的2个量级.详细分析得到这种差别主要是来自于核光度的差别因为延展光度差别只有1个量级.研究RBLs和XBLs的核(延展元)光度与核主导系数之间的关系, 发现延展元光度与核主导系数负相关, 而核(总)光度几乎与核主导系数没有相关.     

Spectral Observations of BIG Objects. III

Results of spectral observations of 66 objects from the BIG (Byurakan IRAS Galaxies) sample made with the 1.93 m telescope at the Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP, France) are presented. Emission lines are observed from 64 of the galaxies. The red shifts are determined, the radial velocities, distances, and absolute stellar magnitudes are calculated, the spectrum line parameters are determined, diagnostic diagrams are constructed, the objects are classified according to activity type, and their IR and far-IR luminosities are calculated. Of the 66 objects (corresponding to 61 IRAS sources), 6 are Sy2, 2 are LINERs, 8 are AGN (Sy2 or LINER), 10 are composite, 34 are HII, and 4 are Em of undetermined type. It is calculated that IRAS 07479+7832= BIG d141a is a ultraluminous IR galaxy (ULIG), and 21 are LIG. Spectra of several of the galaxies being studied are presented.     

A review of diagnostic emission line ratios in the Narrow Line Region of Active Galactic Nuclei

The availability of new observing facilities both from ground and space such as the Keck 10m telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope is casting new light on the spectroscopic investigation of emission line galaxies. In particular, it is now possible to detect spectra with a significantly improved signal to noise ratio in a very wide wavelength range, from the ultraviolet to the near infrared (HST, Keck) and beyond (ISO is unveiling the far infrared domain). As we move to high redshifts, however, it is more likely that the observed spectra are given by the contribution of different components in the galaxy: in particular, this may be the case if an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN hereafter) emitting a power-law continuum is surrounded by regions with strong star formation activity. The identification of the source which ionizes the line emitting regions is then complicated by the fact that we are observing the integrated spectrum from regions which are ionized by different sources. In this paper we wish to review which line ratios may be used in order to discriminate between photoionization by young stars and power-law continuum in the wavelength range from 1200 Å to 100 μm. To this aim we used the photoionization code Cloudy (Ferland 1996) to present a series of diagnostic diagrams showing the dependence of emission line ratios on the main input parameters of photoionization models in the case of one component models with gaseous clouds ionized by (1) a stellar continuum typical of an HII region and (2) a power-law continuum typical of an AGN: these line ratios are plotted as isoratio maps for different values of the hydrogen density, ionization parameter and slope of the power-law continuum. We then show how the results may be affected by more realistic assumptions about the environment of the ionized gas: to this aim, we show the effects on selected line ratios of (a) the presence of two populations of clouds with different densities and (b) an AGN surrounded by regions with strong star formation activity.     

Radio Sources and Scintillation

A review is given of the interplay between studies of compact radio sources and the scattering and scintillations that occur as the signals travel through the irregular refractive index of the interstellar and interplanetary plasmas. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Density and Masses of Obscured Black Holes

Recent Chandra and XMM-Newton surveys have uncovered a large fraction of the obscured AGN responsible of the hard X-ray background. One of the most intriguing results of extensive programs of follow-up observations concerns the optical and near-infrared properties of the hard X-ray sources counterparts. More specifically, for a significant fraction of hard X-ray obscured sources the AGN responsible of the high X-ray luminosity remains elusive over a wide range of wavelengths from soft X-rays to near-infrared. This very observational result opens the possibility to investigate the host of bright obscured quasars in some detail. Here we briefly report on some preliminar results obtained for a small sample of elusive AGN in the HELLAS2XMM survey.