SkyMapper colours of Seyfert galaxies and Changing-Look AGN

Abstract

ABSTRACT We study the utility of broad-band colours in the SkyMapper Southern Survey for selecting Seyfert galaxies at low luminosity. We find that the u − v index, built from the ultraviolet u and violet v filters, separates normal galaxies, starburst galaxies, and type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs). This u − v index is not sensitive to age or metallicity in a stellar population but is instead a quenching-and-bursting indicator in galaxies and detects power-law continua in type-1 AGNs. Using over 25 000 galaxies at z < 0.1 from 6dFGS, we find a selection cut based on u − v and central u band brightness that identifies type-1 AGNs. By eyeballing 6dFGS spectra we classify new Seyfert galaxies of type 1 to 1.8. Our sample includes eight known Changing-Look AGNs (CLAGNs), two of which show such strong variability that they move across the selection cut during the 5 yr of SkyMapper observations in DR3, along mixing sequences of nuclear and host galaxy light. We identify 46 CLAGN candidates in our sample, one of which has been reported as a Type IIn supernova. We show that this transient persists for at least 5 yr and marks a flare in a Seyfert-1 period of a new CLAGN.