CLASS: Coronal Line Activity Spectroscopic Survey

Abstract

We conduct the first systematic survey of a comprehensive set of the twenty optical coronal lines in the spectra of nearly 1 million galaxies observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 8 catalog. This includes often overlooked high ionization potential lines such as [Ar x] λ5533, [S xii] λ7609, [Fe xi] λ7892, and [Fe xiv] λ5303. We find that, given the limited sensitivity of SDSS, strong coronal line emission is extremely rare, with only ∼0.03% of the sample showing at least one coronal line, significantly lower than the fraction of galaxies showing optical narrow line ratios (∼17%) or mid-infrared colors (∼2%) indicative of nuclear activity. The coronal line luminosities exhibit a large dynamic range, with values ranging from ∼1034 to 1042 erg s−1. We find that a vast majority (∼80%) of coronal line emitters in dwarf galaxies (M * < 9.6 × 109 M ⊙) do not display optical narrow line ratios indicative of nuclear activity, in contrast to higher mass galaxies (∼17%). Moreover, we find that the highest ionization potential lines are preferentially found in lower mass galaxies. These findings are consistent with the theory that lower mass black holes found in lower mass galaxies produce a hotter accretion disk, which in turn enhances the higher ionization coronal line spectrum. Future coronal line searches with 30 m class telescopes or JWST may provide a pathway into uncovering the intermediate mass black hole population.