Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. IX. Velocity-Delay Maps for Broad Emission Lines in NGC 5548

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Keith Horne
  • G. De Rosa
  • B. M. Peterson
  • A. J. Barth
  • J. Ely
  • M. M. Fausnaugh
  • G. A. Kriss
  • L. Pei
  • M. C. Bentz
  • E. M. Cackett
  • R. Edelson
  • M. Eracleous
  • M. R. Goad
  • C. J. Grier
  • J. Kaastra
  • C. S. Kochanek
  • Y. Krongold
  • S. Mathur
  • H. Netzer
  • D. Proga
  • N. Tejos
  • C. Villforth
  • S. M. Adams
  • M. D. Anderson
  • P. Arevalo
  • T. G. Beatty
  • V. N. Bennert
  • A. Bigley
  • S. Bisogni
  • G. A. Borman
  • T. A. Boroson
  • M. C. Bottorff
  • W. N. Brandt
  • A. A. Breeveld
  • M. Brotherton
  • J. E. Brown
  • J. S. Brown
  • G. Canalizo
  • M. T. Carini
  • K. I. Clubb
  • J. M. Comerford
  • E. M. Corsini
  • D. M. Crenshaw
  • S. Croft
  • K. V. Croxall
  • E. Dalla Bonta
  • A. J. Deason
  • M. Dehghanian
  • A. De Lorenzo-Caceres
  • K. D. Denney
  • M. Dietrich
  • C. Done
  • N. V. Efimova
  • P. A. Evans
  • G. J. Ferland
  • A. V. Filippenko
  • K. Flatland
  • O. D. Fox
  • E. Gardner
  • E. L. Gates
  • N. Gehrels
  • S. Geier
  • J. M. Gelbord
  • L. Gonzalez
  • V. Gorjian
  • J. E. Greene
  • D. Grupe
  • A. Gupta
  • P. B. Hall
  • C. B. Henderson
  • S. Hicks
  • E. Holmbeck
  • T. W. -S. Holoien
  • T. Hutchison
  • M. Im
  • J. J. Jensen
  • C. A. Johnson
  • M. D. Joner
  • J. Jones
  • S. Kaspi
  • P. L. Kelly
  • J. A. Kennea
  • M. Kim
  • S. Kim
  • S. C. Kim
  • A. King
  • S. A. Klimanov
  • K. T. Korista
  • M. W. Lau
  • J. C. Lee
  • D. C. Leonard
  • Miao Li
  • P. Lira
  • C. Lochhaas
  • Zhiyuan Ma
  • F. MacInnis
  • M. A. Malkan
  • E. R. Manne-Nicholas
  • J. C. Mauerhan
  • R. McGurk
  • I. M. McHardy
  • C. Montuori
  • L. Morelli
  • A. Mosquera
  • D. Mudd
  • F. Muller-Sanchez
  • S. V. Nazarov
  • R. P. Norris
  • J. A. Nousek
  • M. L. Nguyen
  • P. Ochner
  • D. N. Okhmat
  • A. Pancoast
  • I. Papadakis
  • J. R. Parks
  • M. T. Penny
  • A. Pizzella
  • R. W. Pogge
  • R. Poleski
  • J. -U. Pott
  • S. E. Rafter
  • H. -W. Rix
  • J. Runnoe
  • D. A. Saylor
  • J. S. Schimoia
  • K. Schnuelle
  • B. Scott
  • S. G. Sergeev
  • B. J. Shappee
  • I. Shivvers
  • M. Siegel
  • G. V. Simonian
  • A. Siviero
  • A. Skielboe
  • G. Somers
  • M. Spencer
  • D. Starkey
  • D. J. Stevens
  • H. -I. Sung
  • J. Tayar
  • T. Treu
  • C. S. Turner
  • P. Uttley
  • J. Van Saders
  • L. Vican
  • S. Villanueva
  • Y. Weiss
  • J. -H. Woo
  • H. Yan
  • S. Young
  • H. Yuk
  • W. Zheng
  • W. Zhu
  • Y. Zu

In this contribution, we achieve the primary goal of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) STORM campaign by recovering velocity-delay maps for the prominent broad emission lines (Ly alpha, C IV, He II, and H beta) in the spectrum of NGC 5548. These are the most detailed velocity-delay maps ever obtained for an AGN, providing unprecedented information on the geometry, ionization structure, and kinematics of the broad-line region. Virial envelopes enclosing the emission-line responses show that the reverberating gas is bound to the black hole. A stratified ionization structure is evident. The He ii response inside 5-10 lt-day has a broad single-peaked velocity profile. The Ly alpha, C IV, and H beta responses extend from inside 2 to outside 20 lt-day, with double peaks at 2500 km s(-1) in the 10-20 lt-day delay range. An incomplete ellipse in the velocity-delay plane is evident in H beta. We interpret the maps in terms of a Keplerian disk with a well-defined outer rim at R = 20 lt-day. The far-side response is weaker than that from the near side. The line-center delay tau = (R/c)(1 - sin i) approximate to 5 days gives the inclination i approximate to 45 degrees. The inferred black hole mass is (BH) 7 x 10(7) M-circle dot. In addition to reverberations, the fit residuals confirm that emission-line fluxes are depressed during the "BLR Holiday" identified in previous work. Moreover, a helical "Barber-Pole" pattern, with stripes moving from red to blue across the C IV and Ly alpha line profiles, suggests azimuthal structure rotating with a 2 yr period that may represent precession or orbital motion of inner-disk structures casting shadows on the emission-line region farther out.

Original languageEnglish
Article number76
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume907
Issue number2
Number of pages19
ISSN0004-637X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2021

    Research areas

  • TERM PROFILE VARIABILITY, ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS, RADIATION PRESSURE, MASS, CONTINUUM, REGIONS, DISC

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