Narrow Component Research Articles

Study of the variable broadband emission of Markarian 501 during the most extreme Swift X-ray activity

Context. Markarian 501 (Mrk 501) is a very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray blazar located at z = 0.034, which is regularly monitored by a wide range of multi-wavelength instruments, from radio to VHE gamma rays. During a period of almost two weeks in July 2014, the highest X-ray activity of Mrk 501 was observed in ∼14 years of operation of the Neil Gehrels Swift Gamma-ray Burst Observatory. Aims. We characterize the broadband variability of Mrk 501 from radio to VHE gamma rays during the most extreme X-ray activity measured in the last 14 years, and evaluate whether it can be interpreted within theoretical scenarios widely used to explain the broadband emission from blazars. Methods. The emission of Mrk 501 was measured at radio with Metsähovi, at optical–UV with KVA and Swift/UVOT, at X-ray with Swift/XRT and Swift/BAT, at gamma ray with Fermi-LAT, and at VHE gamma rays with the FACT and MAGIC telescopes. The multi-band variability and correlations were quantified, and the broadband spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were compared with predictions from theoretical models. Results. The VHE emission of Mrk 501 was found to be elevated during the X-ray outburst, with a gamma-ray flux above 0.15 TeV varying from ∼0.5 to ∼2 times the Crab nebula flux. The X-ray and VHE emission both varied on timescales of 1 day and were found to be correlated. We measured a general increase in the fractional variability with energy, with the VHE variability being twice as large as the X-ray variability. The temporal evolution of the most prominent and variable segments of the SED, characterized on a day-by-day basis from 2014 July 16 to 2014 July 31, is described with a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model with variations in the break energy of the electron energy distribution (EED), and with some adjustments in the magnetic field strength and spectral shape of the EED. These results suggest that the main flux variations during this extreme X-ray outburst are produced by the acceleration and the cooling of the high-energy electrons. A narrow feature at ∼3 TeV was observed in the VHE spectrum measured on 2014 July 19 (MJD 56857.98), which is the day with the highest X-ray flux (>0.3 keV) measured during the entire Swift mission. This feature is inconsistent with the classical analytic functions to describe the measured VHE spectra (power law, log-parabola, and log-parabola with exponential cutoff) at more than 3σ. A fit with a log-parabola plus a narrow component is preferred over the fit with a single log-parabola at more than 4σ, and a dedicated Monte Carlo simulation estimated the significance of this extra component to be larger than 3σ. Under the assumption that this VHE spectral feature is real, we show that it can be reproduced with three distinct theoretical scenarios: (a) a pileup in the EED due to stochastic acceleration; (b) a structured jet with two-SSC emitting regions, with one region dominated by an extremely narrow EED; and (c) an emission from an IC pair cascade induced by electrons accelerated in a magnetospheric vacuum gap, in addition to the SSC emission from a more conventional region along the jet of Mrk 501.

Detection of deuterated molecules, but not of lithium hydride, in the z = 0.89 absorber toward PKS 1830−211

Deuterium and lithium are light elements of high cosmological and astrophysical importance. In this work we report the first detection of deuterated molecules and a search for lithium hydride, 7LiH, at redshift z = 0.89 in the spiral galaxy intercepting the line of sight to the quasar PKS 1830−211. We used ALMA to observe several submillimeter lines of ND, NH2D, and HDO, and their related isotopomers NH2, NH3, and H218O, in absorption against the southwest image of the quasar, allowing us to derive XD/XH abundance ratios. The absorption spectra mainly consist of two distinct narrow velocity components for which we find remarkable differences. One velocity component shows XD/XH abundances that is about 10 times larger than the primordial elemental D/H ratio, and no variability of the absorption profile during the time span of our observations. In contrast, the other component shows a stronger deuterium fractionation. Compared to the first component, this second component has XD/XH abundances that are 100 times larger than the primordial D/H ratio, a deepening of the absorption by a factor of two within a few months, and a rich chemical composition, with relative enhancements of N2H+, CH3OH, SO2 and complex organic molecules. We therefore speculate that this component is associated with the analog of a Galactic dark cloud, while the first component is likely more diffuse. Our search for the 7LiH (1–0) line was unsuccessful and we derive an upper limit 7LiH/H2 = 4 × 10−13 (3σ) in the z = 0.89 absorber toward PKS 1830−211. Besides, with ALMA archival data, we could not confirm the previous tentative detections of this line in the z = 0.68 absorber toward B 0218+357; we derive an upper limit 7LiH/H2 = 5 × 10−11 (3σ), although this is less constraining than our limit toward PKS 1830−211. We conclude that, as in the Milky Way, only a tiny fraction of lithium nuclei are possibly bound in LiH in these absorbers at intermediate redshift.

Identification of ${S}_{\text{1}}$ and ${S}_{\text{2}}$ Heart Sounds Using Spectral and Convex Hull Features

A new set of morphological characteristics of Phonocardiogram (PCG) signal is presented for recognition of first ( ${S}_{{1}}$ ) and second ( ${S}_{{2}}$ ) heart sounds (HSs). Initially, variational mode decomposition on PCG signal generates a set of amplitude and frequency modulated narrow band-limited components (NBCs) and Hilbert transformation of these NBCs comprehends its complex plane analytic signal representation (ASR). Instantaneous spectral attributes encompassing amplitude modulation bandwidths and convex hull area measure from the ASRs are concatenated to form the feature set. Experimental results on both publicly available and experimentally recorded HSs signals outperform the existing state-of-the-art. Also, the proposed technique does not require any timing information between ${S}_{{1}}$ and ${S}_{{2}}$ and electrocardiogram (ECG) signal reference and is highly robust to noisy real-world PCGs as shown by noise analysis.

Evidence for an accreting massive black hole in He 2–10 from adaptive optics integral field spectroscopy

ABSTRACT Henize 2–10 is a blue dwarf galaxy with intense star formation and one the most intriguing question about it is whether or not it hosts an accreting massive black hole. We use H and K-band integral field spectra of the inner 130 pc × 130 pc of He 2–10 to investigate the emission and kinematics of the gas at unprecedented spatial resolution. The observations were done using the Gemini Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) operating with the ALTAIR adaptive optics module and the resulting spatial resolutions are 6.5 and 8.6 pc in the K and H bands, respectively. Most of the line emission is due to excitation of the gas by photoionization and shocks produced by the star forming regions. In addition, our data provide evidence of emission of gas excited by an active galactic nucleus located at the position of the radio and X-ray sources, as revealed by the analysis of the emission-line ratios. The emission lines from the ionized gas in the field present two kinematic components: one narrow with a velocity field suggesting a disc rotation and a broad component due to winds from the star forming regions. The molecular gas shows only the narrow component. The stellar velocity dispersion map presents an enhancement of about 7 km s−1 at the position of the black hole, consistent with a mass of $1.5^{+1.3}_{-1.3}\times 10^6$ M⊙.

Chemodynamics of green pea galaxies – I. Outflows and turbulence driving the escape of ionizing photons and chemical enrichment

ABSTRACT We investigate the ionized gas kinematics, physical properties, and chemical abundances of Sloan Digital Sky Survey J142947, a Green Pea galaxy at redshift z∼ 0.17 with strong, double-peak Ly α emission and indirect evidence of Lyman continuum (LyC) leakage. Using high-dispersion spectroscopy, we perform a multicomponent analysis of emission-line profiles. Our model consistently fits all lines as a narrow component with intrinsic velocity dispersion σ ∼ 40 km s−1, and two broader blue-shifted components with σ ∼ 90 and ∼ 250 km s−1. We find electron densities and temperatures, ionization conditions, and direct O/H and N/O abundances for each component. A highly ionized, metal-poor, young and compact starburst dominates narrow emission, showing evidence of hard radiation fields and elevated N/O. The blue-shifted broader components are consistent with highly turbulent, possibly clumpy ionized gas at the base of a strong photoionized outflow, which accounts for ≳50 per cent of the integrated emission-line fluxes. The outflow is dense and metal-enriched compared to the H ii regions, with expansion velocities larger than those obtained from UV interstellar absorption lines under standard assumptions. Some of these metals may be able to escape, with outflows loading factors comparable to those found in high-z galaxies of similar SFR/Area. Our findings depict a two-stage starburst picture; hard radiation fields from young star clusters illuminate a turbulent and clumpy ISM that has been eroded by SNe feedback. Whilst UV data suggest an extended Ly α halo with high average H i column density, LyC photons could only escape from SDSS J142947 through low H i density channels or filaments in the ISM approaching density-bounded conditions, traced by outflowing gas.

Spectral Signatures of Quasar Ages at z ≈ 3

Abstract Insight into quasar ages may be obtained from the proximity effect, but so far only in a limited number of bright quasars. Based on ∼2600 Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar spectra at 2.5 ≤ z ≤ 3.5, a search for spectral voids between Lyα forest lines finds proximity zones over a wide range of radial distances. The majority of zone sizes are less than 5 Mpc, with their numbers decreasing exponentially toward larger distances. After a normalization by luminosities, the zone sizes are distributed with an e-folding scale of 0.64 as compared with the anticipated values. A group of quasars are selected for their large proximity zones of ≳10 Mpc. Their composite spectrum displays strong narrow cores and large equivalent widths in Lyα and other major UV emission lines. If the proximity zones along lines of sight are indicative of quasar ages, these features may be the signatures of old quasars. Another group of quasars are selected as they show no proximity zone and exhibit intrinsic absorption lines at z ab > z em . They are likely young quasars and exhibit weaker narrow emission-line components. The significant difference of spectral features between the two groups may reflect an evolution pattern over quasars’ lifetimes.

Sparse Feature Learning of Hyperspectral Imagery via Multiobjective-Based Extreme Learning Machine.

Hyperspectral image (HSI) consists of hundreds of narrow spectral band components with rich spectral and spatial information. Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) has been widely used for HSI analysis. However, the classical ELM is difficult to use for sparse feature leaning due to its randomly generated hidden layer. In this paper, we propose a novel unsupervised sparse feature learning approach, called Evolutionary Multiobjective-based ELM (EMO-ELM), and apply it to HSI feature extraction. Specifically, we represent the task of constructing the ELM Autoencoder (ELM-AE) as a multiobjective optimization problem that takes the sparsity of hidden layer outputs and the reconstruction error as two conflicting objectives. Then, we adopt an Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization (EMO) method to solve the two objectives, simultaneously. To find the best solution from the Pareto solution set and construct the best trade-off feature extractor, a curvature-based method is proposed to focus on the knee area of the Pareto solutions. Benefited from the EMO, the proposed EMO-ELM is less prone to fall into a local minimum and has fewer trainable parameters than gradient-based AEs. Experiments on two real HSIs demonstrate that the features learned by EMO-ELM not only preserve better sparsity but also achieve superior separability than many existing feature learning methods.

NGC 7469 as seen by MEGARA: new results from high-resolution IFU spectroscopy

ABSTRACT We present our analysis of high-resolution (R ∼ 20 000) GTC/MEGARA integral-field unit spectroscopic observations, obtained during the commissioning run, in the inner region (12.5 arcsec × 11.3 arcsec) of the active galaxy NGC 7469, at spatial scales of 0.62 arcsec. We explore the kinematics, dynamics, ionization mechanisms, and oxygen abundances of the ionized gas, by modelling the H α-[N ii] emission lines at high signal-to-noise (> 15) with multiple Gaussian components. MEGARA observations reveal, for the first time for NGC 7469, the presence of a very thin (20 pc) ionized gas disc supported by rotation (V/σ = 4.3), embedded in a thicker (222 pc), dynamically hotter (V/σ = 1.3) one. These discs nearly corotate with similar peak-to-peak velocities (163 versus 137 km s−1), but with different average velocity dispersion (38 ± 1 versus 108 ± 4 km s−1). The kinematics of both discs could be possibly perturbed by star-forming regions. We interpret the morphology and the kinematics of a third (broader) component (σ > 250 km s−1) as suggestive of the presence of non-rotational turbulent motions possibly associated either to an outflow or to the lense. For the narrow component, the [N ii]/H α ratios point to the star-formation as the dominant mechanism of ionization, being consistent with ionization from shocks in the case of the intermediate component. All components have roughly solar metallicity. In the nuclear region of NGC 7469, at r ≤ 1.85 arcsec, a very broad (FWHM = 2590 km s−1) H α component is contributing (41 per cent) to the global H α-[N ii] profile, being originated in the (unresolved) broad line region of the Seyfert 1.5 nucleus of NGC 7469.

Unveiling kinematic structure in the starburst heart of NGC 253

ABSTRACT We observed the Brackett α emission line (4.05 μm) within the nuclear starburst of NGC 253 to measure the kinematics of ionized gas, and distinguish motions driven by star formation feedback from gravitational motions induced by the central mass structure. Using NIRSPEC on Keck II, we obtained 30 spectra through a $0^{\prime \prime }_{.}5$ slit stepped across the central ∼5 arcsec × 25 arcsec (85 × 425 pc) region to produce a spectral cube. The Br α emission resolves into four nuclear sources: S1 at the infrared core (IRC), N1 at the radio core, and the fainter sources N2 and N3 in the northeast. The line profile is characterized by a primary component with Δvprimary ∼90–130 $\rm km\, s^{-1}$ (full width at half-maximum) on top of a broad blue 2wing with Δvbroad ∼300–350 $\rm km\, s^{-1}$, and an additional redshifted narrow component in the west. The velocity field generated from our cube reveals several distinct patterns. A mean NE–SW velocity gradient of +10 $\rm km\, s^{-1}$ arcsec−1 along the major axis traces the solid-body rotation curve of the nuclear disc. At the radio core, isovelocity contours become S-shaped, indicating the presence of secondary nuclear bar of total extent ∼5 arcsec (90 pc). The symmetry of the bar places the galactic centre, and potential supermassive black hole, near the radio peak rather than the IRC. A third kinematic substructure is formed by blueshifted gas near the IRC. This feature likely traces a ∼100–250 $\rm km\, s^{-1}$ starburst-driven outflow, potentially linking the IRC to the galactic wind observed on kpc scales.

Gas-dust correlations in nearby galaxies: a case study of NGC 3184 and NGC 7793

ABSTRACT The study of gas-dust interactions occurring in the interstellar medium of a galaxy is essential for understanding various physical processes taking place within it. A comparison of such events at different locations corresponding to diverse astrophysical environments provides more insight into the star formation as well as dust destruction conditions and time-scales. We present a case study for two galaxies: NGC 3184 and NGC 7793, which are typical examples of a ‘grand design spiral’ and a ‘flocculent spiral’, respectively. We investigate the gas-dust correlations at various spatially resolved locations within each galaxy, including spiral arms, using archival data. Moreover, we have segregated the neutral gas into wide (warm) and narrow (cold) velocity components to check the correlations with individual dust emission bands. We find a positive correlation between the gas and the dust, with the total atomic gas emission mainly dominated by its warm component in both the galaxies. We also find the dust population in NGC 7793 to have a greater fraction of emission coming from cold and diffuse, larger-sized dust particles as compared to NGC 3184. This nearby galaxy pilot study could serve as a template for similar studies of larger galaxy samples with analogous morphologies.

Multi-wavelength campaign on NGC 7469

Aims.We aim to investigate and characterise the photoionised X-ray emission line regions within the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469.Methods.We applied the photoionisation model,PION, within the spectral fitting codeSPEXto analyse the 640 ks reflection grating spectrometer spectrum of NGC 7469 gathered during anXMM-Newtonobserving campaign in 2015.Results.We find the emission line region in NGC 7469 to be multiphased, consisting of two narrow components with ionisation parameters of logξ = 0.4 and 1.6. A third, broad emission component, with a broadening velocity ofvb ∼ 1400 km s−1and an outflow velocity ofvout ∼ −4500 km s−1is required to fit the residuals in the O VIItriplet at around 22 Å. Assuming a volume filling factor of 0.1, the lower distance limits of the narrow emission line region components are estimated for the first time at 2.6 and 2.5 pc from the central black hole, whereas the broad component has an estimated lower bound distance between 0.004 and 0.03 pc, depending on the assumed plasma parameters. The collisionally ionised plasma from the star burst region in NGC 7469 has a plasma temperature of 0.32 keV and an outflow velocity of −280 km s−1, which is consistent with previous results in this campaign. In addition, we model the photoionised plasma of the warm absorber (WA) in NGC 7469 and find that it consists of three photoionised phases with different values ofξ,NHandvout. The upper bound distances of these WA components are 1.9, 0.3, and 0.6 pc, respectively, consistent with archival results.Conclusion.The environment of NGC 7469 is a complex mix of plasma winds absorbing and emitting X-rays. We find the picture painted by our results can be attributed to line emitting plasma located at distances ranging from near the black hole to the torus and beyond the ionised outflows.

Dissociative recombination and its impact on the line profile of the hydrogen Balmer series

In low pressure low temperature plasmas (p ∼ Pa, Te ∼ eV) the upper levels of the Balmer series of the hydrogen atom are populated by several excitation channels. While electron impact excitation is dominant for so-called ionizing plasmas (Te → 10 eV), dissociative recombination (DR) via the molecular ion becomes dominant in so-called recombining plasmas (Te → ≲ 1 eV). In the intermediate range, several other channels may be relevant as well. The expansion region of an ECR discharge, which represents such a plasma, is analyzed regarding the composition of the excitation processes as well as the line profiles of the Balmer series (for Hα to Hδ). Significantly broadened line profiles compared to Doppler broadening of thermal hydrogen atoms are revealed. The resulting line profiles resemble two Gaussian components with distinct FWHM (narrow component close to apparatus profile: ≈25–30 pm; broad component: ≈50–100 pm), where the broad part contributes to 10%–40% to the emissivity, depending on the individual Balmer line and the plasma conditions. Collisional radiative modeling was applied in order to determine the contributions of the different excitation channels. It turned out that for each of the lines of the Balmer series, population via DR contributes to the total excitation with a similar share as the share of the broad component of the line profile. Hence, it is concluded that DR is responsible for the broad component in the Balmer line profiles. The implication of this analysis on the spectroscopic determination of the atomic hydrogen density using a simple line ratio method (Hγ/Fulcher) is illustrated.

In situ Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroelectrochemical study of graphene-based supercapacitors: Comparison between chemically reduced graphene oxide and nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide

An in situ electrochemical electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopic study of N-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO) is reported with the aim of understanding the properties of this material when employed as an electrical double-layer capacitor. N-rGO shows a capacitance of 100 F g−1 in 6 M KOH, which is twice that found for reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The temperature dependence of the rGO EPR signal revealed two different components: a narrow component, following the Curie law, was related to defects; and a broad curve with a stronger Pauli law component was attributed to the spin interaction between mobile electrons and localised π electrons trapped at a more extended aromatic structure. The N-rGO sample presented broader EPR signals, indicative of additional contributions to the resonance width. In situ EPR electrochemical spectroscopy was applied to both samples to relate changes in unpaired electron density to the enhanced capacitance. The narrow and broad components increased and diminished reversibly with potential. The potential-dependent narrow feature was related to the generated radical species from corresponding functional groups: e.g. O- and N-centred radicals. Improved capacitance seen for the N-modified basal graphene planes can be accordingly suggested to underlie the enhanced capacitance of N-rGO in basic electrolytes.

Optical and photoemission investigation of structural and magnetic transitions in the iron-based superconductor Sr0.67Na0.33Fe2As2

We report the temperature-dependent optical conductivity and ARPES studies of the iron-based superconductor (SC) Sr$_{0.67}$Na$_{0.33}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ in the high-temperature tetragonal paramagnetic phase; below the structural and magnetic transitions at $T_{\rm N}\simeq$125 K in the orthorhombic spin-density-wave (SDW)-like phase, and $T_r\simeq$42 K in the reentrant tetragonal double-Q magnetic phase where both charge and SDW order exist; and below the SC transition at $T_c\simeq$10 K. The free-carrier component in the optical conductivity is described by two Drude contributions; one strong and broad, the other weak and narrow. The broad Drude component decreases dramatically below $T_{\rm N}$ and $T_r$, with much of its strength being transferred to a bound excitation in the mid-infrared, while the narrow Drude component shows no anomalies at either of the transitions, actually increasing in strength at low temperature while narrowing dramatically. The behavior of an infrared-active mode suggests zone-folding below $T_r$. Below $T_c$ the dramatic decrease in the low-frequency optical conductivity signals the formation of a SC energy gap. ARPES reveals hole-like bands at the center of the Brillouin zone (BZ), with both electron- and hole-like bands at the corners. Below $T_{\rm N}$, the hole pockets at the center of the BZ decrease in size, consistent with the behavior of the broad Drude component; while below $T_r$ the electron-like bands shift and split, giving rise to a low-energy excitation in the optical conductivity at ~20 meV. The magnetic states, with resulting SDW and charge-SDW order, respectively, lead to a significant reconstruction of the Fermi surface that has profound implications for the transport originating from the electron and hole pockets, but appears to have relatively little impact on the SC in this material.

BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey – XIX. Type 1 versus type 2 AGN dichotomy from the point of view of ionized outflows

ABSTRACT We present a detailed study of ionized outflows in a large sample of ∼650 hard X-ray-detected active galactic neuclei (AGNs). Using optical spectroscopy from the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS), we are able to reveal the faint wings of the [O iii] emission lines associated with outflows covering, for the first time, an unexplored range of low AGN bolometric luminosity at low redshift (z ∼0.05). We test if and how the incidence and velocity of ionized outflow is related to AGN physical parameters: black hole mass ($\rm \mathit{ M}_{BH}$), gas column density ($\rm \mathit{ N}_{H}$), Eddington ratio ($\rm \lambda _{Edd}$), [O iii], X-ray, and bolometric luminosities. We find a higher occurrence of ionized outflows in type 1.9 (55 per cent) and type 1 AGNs (46 per cent) with respect to type 2 AGNs (24 per cent). While outflows in type 2 AGNs are evenly balanced between blue and red velocity offsets with respect to the [O iii] narrow component, they are almost exclusively blueshifted in type 1 and type 1.9 AGNs. We observe a significant dependence between the outflow occurrence and accretion rate, which becomes relevant at high Eddington ratios [log($\rm \lambda _{Edd}$) ≳ −1.7]. We interpret such behaviour in the framework of covering factor-Eddington ratio dependence. We do not find strong trends of the outflow maximum velocity with AGN physical parameters, as an increase with bolometric luminosity can be only identified when including samples of AGNs at high luminosity and high redshift taken from literature.

Kinematical investigation of possible fast collimated outflows in twelve planetary nebulae

ABSTRACT A significant fraction of planetary nebulae (PNe) exhibit collimated outflows, distinct narrow kinematical components with notable velocity shifts with respect to the main nebular shells typically associated with low-ionization compact knots and linear or precessing jet-like features. We present here a spatio-kinematical investigation of a sample of 12 PNe with morphologies in emission lines of low-ionization species suggestive of collimated outflows. Using archival narrow-band images and our own high-dispersion long-slit echelle spectra, we confirm the presence of collimated outflows in Hen 2-429, J 320, M 1-66, M 2-40, M 3-1, and NGC 6210 and possibly in NGC 6741, for which the spatio-kinematical data can also be interpreted as a pair of bipolar lobes. The presence of collimated outflows is rejected in Hen 2-47, Hen 2-115, M 1-26, and M 1-37, but their morphology and kinematics are indicative of the action of supersonic outflows that have not been able to pierce through the nebular envelope. In this sense, M 1-66 appears to have experienced a similar interaction between the outflow and nebular envelope, but, as opposed to these four PNe, the outflow has been able to break through the nebular envelope. It is suggested that the PNe without collimated outflows in our sample are younger or descend from lower mass progenitors than those that exhibit unambiguous collimated outflows.

Clarifying Glass Luminescence at Near-Infrared Excitation.

Glass is a unique material that is often encountered in chemical and biological studies as a convenient sample holder (vial or microscope slide in particular). If the sample is probed with light in fluorescence and Raman spectroscopic experiments, the contribution from glass is often present and can obscure the spectra from the analyte of interest. It is important to understand the nature of glass photoemission properties to control this potential interference. The Raman spectrum of glass is dominated by peaks around 500 and 1000 cm-1 at the excitation with UV and visible light. A strong broad emission band centered at 880 nm appears when glass is irradiated with near-infrared light, a popular 785 nm laser light in particular. We proved experimentally in this study that this broad band is due to glass photoluminescence and not Raman scattering. In addition, three narrow components were found to contribute to this band, which have different excitation profiles indicating that they originate from three different species or the same species experiencing three different types of local environments. It has been hypothesized that these peaks could be due to the presence of rare earth impurities in the glass. Further study is necessary to identify these luminescent centers.

The 2017 Failed Outburst of GX 339–4: Relativistic X-Ray Reflection near the Black Hole Revealed by NuSTAR and Swift Spectroscopy

Abstract We report on the spectroscopic analysis of the black hole binary GX 339−4 during its recent 2017–2018 outburst, observed simultaneously by the Swift and NuSTAR observatories. Although during this particular outburst the source failed to make state transitions, and despite Sun constraints during the peak luminosity, we were able to trigger four different observations sampling the evolution of the source in the hard state. We show that even for the lowest-luminosity observations the NuSTAR spectra show clear signatures of X-ray reprocessing (reflection) in an accretion disk. Detailed analysis of the highest signal-to-noise spectra with our family of relativistic reflection models relxill indicates the presence of both broad and narrow reflection components. We find that a dual-lamppost model provides a superior fit when compared to the standard single lamppost plus distant neutral reflection. In the dual-lamppost model two sources at different heights are placed on the rotational axis of the black hole, suggesting that the narrow component of the Fe K emission is likely to originate in regions far away in the disk, but still significantly affected by its rotational motions. Regardless of the geometry assumed, we find that the inner edge of the accretion disk reaches a few gravitational radii in all our fits, consistent with previous determinations at similar luminosity levels. This confirms a very low degree of disk truncation for this source at luminosities above ∼1% Eddington. Our estimates of R in reinforce the suggested behavior for an inner disk that approaches the innermost regions as the luminosity increases in the hard state.

Discovery of Metastable He I* λ10830 Mini-broad Absorption Lines and Very Narrow Paschen α Emission Lines in the ULIRG Quasar IRAS F11119+3257

Abstract IRAS F11119+3257 is a quasar-dominated ultraluminous infrared galaxy, with a partially obscured narrow-line Seyfert 1 nucleus. In this paper, we present the near-IR (NIR) spectroscopy of F11119+3257, in which we find unusual Paschen emission lines and metastable He i* λ10830 absorption associated with the previously reported atomic sodium and molecular OH mini-BAL (broad absorption line) outflow. Photoionization diagnosis confirms previous findings that the outflows are at kiloparsec scales. Such large-scale outflows should produce emission lines. We indeed find that high-ionization emission lines ([O III], [Ne III], and [Ne V]) are dominated by blueshifted components at similar speeds to the mini-BALs. The blueshifted components are also detected in some low-ionization emission lines, such as [O II] λ3727 and some Balmer lines (Hα, Hβ, and Hγ), even though their cores are dominated by narrow (FWHMNEL = 570 ± 40 km s−1) or broad components at the systemic redshift of z = 0.18966 ± 0.00006. The mass flow rate (230–730 M ⊙ yr−1) and the kinetic luminosity ( erg s−1) are then inferred jointly from the blueshifted emission and absorption lines. In the NIR spectrum of F11119+3257, we also find that the Paschen emission lines are unique, in which a very narrow (FWHM = 260 ± 20 km s−1) component is shown in only Paα. This narrow component most probably comes from heavily obscured star formation. Based on the Paα and Paβ emissions, we obtain an extinction at the H band, A H > 2.1 (or a reddenning of > 3.7), and a star formation rate of SFR > 130 M ⊙ yr−1 that resembles the estimates inferred from the far-IR emissions (SFRFIR = 190 ± 90 M ⊙ yr−1).

Optical spectroscopy of nearby type1-LINERs

AbstractWe present the highlights from our recent study of 22 local (z < 0.025) type-1 LINERs from the Palomar Survey, on the basis of optical long-slit spectroscopic observations taken with TWIN/CAHA, ALFOSC/NOT and HST/STIS. Our goals were threefold: (a) explore the AGN-nature of these LINERs by studying the broad (BLR-originated) Hαλ 6563 component; (b) derive a reliable interpretation for the multiple narrow components of emission lines by studying their kinematics and ionisation mechanism (via standard BPTs); (c) probe the neutral gas in the nuclei of these LINERs for the first time. Hence, kinematics and fluxes of a set of emission lines, from Hβ λ4861 to [SII]λλ 716,6731, and the NaDλλ5890,5896 doublet in absorption have been modelled and measured, after the subtraction of the underlying light from the stellar component.