The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)
The SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper Reverberation Mapping Project: A Kinematically Variable Broad-line Region and Consequences for the Masses of Luminous Quasars
- Logan B. Fries,
- Jonathan R. Trump,
- Keith Horne,
- Megan C. Davis,
- Catherine J. Grier,
- Yue Shen,
- Scott F. Anderson,
- Tom Dwelly,
- Y. Homayouni,
- Sean Morrison,
- Jessie C. Runnoe,
- Benny Trakhtenbrot,
- Roberto J. Assef,
- Dmitry Bizyaev,
- W. N. Brandt,
- Peter Breiding,
- Joel Brownstein,
- Priyanka Chakraborty,
- P. B. Hall,
- Anton M. Koekemoer,
- Héctor J. Ibarra-Medel,
- Mary Loli Martínez-Aldama,
- C. Alenka Negrete,
- Kaike Pan,
- Claudio Ricci,
- Donald P. Schneider,
- Hugh W. Sharp,
- Theodore B. Smith,
- Zachary Stone,
- Matthew J. Temple
Affiliations
- Logan B. Fries
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196A Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA ; [email protected]
- Jonathan R. Trump
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196A Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA ; [email protected]
- Keith Horne
- ORCiD
- SUPA Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews , St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS, UK
- Megan C. Davis
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196A Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA ; [email protected]
- Catherine J. Grier
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Yue Shen
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA; National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Scott F. Anderson
- ORCiD
- Astronomy Department, University of Washington , Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Tom Dwelly
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik , Giessenbachstraße, 85748 Garching, Germany
- Y. Homayouni
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, 525 Davey Lab, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA
- Sean Morrison
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Jessie C. Runnoe
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University , Nashville, TN 37235, USA
- Benny Trakhtenbrot
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
- Roberto J. Assef
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingenieraía y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército Libertador 441, Santiago 8370191, Chile
- Dmitry Bizyaev
- ORCiD
- Apache Point Observatory and New Mexico State University , P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349-0059, USA; Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University , Moscow, Russia
- W. N. Brandt
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, 525 Davey Lab, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Department of Physics, 104 Davey Lab, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA
- Peter Breiding
- ORCiD
- The William H. Miller III Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Joel Brownstein
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah , 115 S. 1400 E., Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- Priyanka Chakraborty
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics—Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- P. B. Hall
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University , Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
- Anton M. Koekemoer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Héctor J. Ibarra-Medel
- ORCiD
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Instituto de Astronomía, AP 70-264, CDMX 04510, Mexico
- Mary Loli Martínez-Aldama
- ORCiD
- Astronomy Department, Universidad de Concepción , Casilla 160-C, Concepción 4030000, Chile
- C. Alenka Negrete
- ORCiD
- CONAHCyT Research Fellow, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Instituto de Astronomía, AP 70-264, CDMX 04510, Mexico
- Kaike Pan
- ORCiD
- Apache Point Observatory and New Mexico State University , P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349-0059, USA
- Claudio Ricci
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército Libertador 441, Santiago, Chile; Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
- Donald P. Schneider
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, 525 Davey Lab, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA
- Hugh W. Sharp
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196A Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA ; [email protected]
- Theodore B. Smith
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196A Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA ; [email protected]
- Zachary Stone
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Matthew J. Temple
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército Libertador 441, Santiago, Chile
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad7c42
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 975,
no. 2
p. 239
Abstract
We present a velocity-resolved reverberation mapping analysis of the hypervariable quasar RM160 (SDSS J141041.25+531849.0) at z = 0.359 with 153 spectroscopic epochs of data representing a 10 yr baseline (2013–2023). We split the baseline into two regimes based on the 3× flux increase in the light curve: a “low state” phase during the years 2013–2019 and a “high state” phase during the years 2022–2023. The velocity-resolved lag profiles (VRLPs) indicate that gas with different kinematics dominates the line emission in different states. The H β VRLP begins with a signature of inflow onto the broad-line region (BLR) in the low state, while in the high state it is flatter with less signature of inflow. The H α VRLP begins consistent with a virialized BLR in the low state, while in the high state shows a signature of inflow. The differences in the kinematics between the Balmer lines and between the low state and the high state suggests complex BLR dynamics. We find that the BLR radius and velocity (both FWHM and σ ) do not obey a constant virial product throughout the monitoring period. We find that the BLR lags and continuum luminosity are correlated, consistent with rapid response of the BLR gas to the illuminating continuum. The BLR kinematic profile changes in unpredictable ways that are not related to continuum changes and reverberation lag. Our observations indicate that nonvirial kinematics can significantly contribute to observed line profiles, suggesting caution for black hole mass estimation in luminous and highly varying quasars like RM160.
Keywords
