Search

We study the luminosity line ratio in a sample of nearby (z < 0.05) galaxies: 25 star-forming galaxies (SFGs) from the xCOLD GASS survey, 36 hard X-ray-selected active galactic nucleus (AGN) host galaxies from the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey, and 37 infrared-luminous galaxies from the SCUBA Local Universe Galaxy Survey. We find a trend for r31 to increase with star formation efficiency (SFE). We model r31 using the UCL-PDR code and find that the gas density is the main parameter responsible for the variation of r31, while the interstellar radiation field and cosmic-ray ionization rate play only a minor role. We interpret these results to indicate a relation between SFE and gas density. We do not find a difference in the r31 value of SFGs and AGN host galaxies, when the galaxies are matched in SSFR (〈r31〉 = 0.52 ± 0.04 for SFGs and 〈r31〉 = 0.53 ± 0.06 for AGN hosts). According to the results of the UCL-PDR models, the X-rays can contribute to the enhancement of the CO line ratio, but only for strong X-ray fluxes and for high gas density (nH > 104 cm−3). We find a mild tightening of the Kennicutt–Schmidt relation when we use the molecular gas mass surface density traced by CO(3–2) (Pearson correlation coefficient R = 0.83), instead of the molecular gas mass surface density traced by CO(1–0) (R = 0.78), but the increase in correlation is not statistically significant (p-value = 0.06). This suggests that the CO(3–2) line can be reliably used to study the relation between SFR and molecular gas for normal SFGs at high redshift and to compare it with studies of low-redshift galaxies, as is common practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present optical SuperNova Integral Field Spectrograph integral field spectroscopy, Hubble Space Telescope optical imaging, Chandra X-ray imaging, and Very Large Array radio interferometry of the merging galaxy 2MASX J04234080+0408017, which hosts a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus (AGN) at z = 0.046. Our observations reveal that radiatively driven, ionized gas outflows are successful to distances >10 kpc due to the low mass of the host system, encompassing the entirety of the observed optical emission. We also find that at large radii, where observed velocities cannot be reproduced by radiative driving models, high-velocity kinematics are likely due to mechanical driving from AGN winds impacting high-density host material. This impacting deposits sufficient energy to shock the host material, producing thermal X-ray emission and cosmic rays, which in turn promote the formation of in situ radio structure in a pseudo-jet morphology along the high-density lanes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first catalog and data release of the Swift-BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey. We analyze optical spectra of the majority of the detected AGNs (77%, 642/836)based on their 14–195 keV emission in the 70-month Swift-BAT all-sky catalog. This includes redshift determination, absorption and emission-line measurements, and black hole mass and accretion rate estimates for the majority of obscured and unobscured AGNs (74%, 473/642), with 340 measured for the first time. With ∼90% of sources at , the survey represents a significant advance in the census of hard X-ray-selected AGNs in the local universe. In this first catalog paper, we describe the spectroscopic observations and data sets, and our initial spectral analysis. The FWHMs of the emission lines show broad agreement with the X-ray obscuration (∼94%), such that Sy 1–1.8 have cm−2, and Seyfert 2 have cm−2. Seyfert 1.9, however, show a range of column densities. Compared to narrow-line AGNs in the SDSS, the X-ray-selected AGNs have a larger fraction of dusty host galaxies (), suggesting that these types of AGN are missed in optical surveys. Using the [O iii] λ5007/Hβ and [N ii] λ6583/Hα emission-line diagnostic, about half of the sources are classified as Seyferts; ∼15% reside in dusty galaxies that lack an Hβ detection, but for which the upper limits on line emission imply either a Seyfert or LINER, are in galaxies with weak or no emission lines despite high-quality spectra, and a few percent each are LINERS, composite galaxies, H ii regions, or in known beamed AGNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We systematically analyze the broadband (0.5–200 keV) X-ray spectra of hard X-ray (>10 keV) selected local low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs) observed with Suzaku and Swift/BAT. The sample consists of 10 LLAGNs detected with Swift/BAT with intrinsic 14–195 keV luminosities smaller than 1042 erg s−1 available in the Suzaku archive, covering a wide range of the Eddington ratio from 10−5 to 10−2. The overall spectra can be reproduced with an absorbed cut-off power law, often accompanied by reflection components from distant cold matter, and/or optically thin thermal emission from the host galaxy. In all of the objects, relativistic reflection components from the innermost disk are not required. Eight objects show a significant narrow iron-Kα emission line. Comparing their observed equivalent widths with the predictions from the Monte-Carlo-based torus model by Ikeda et al. (2009), we constrain the column density in the equatorial plane to be , or the torus half-opening angle θoa < 70°. We infer that the Eddington ratio (λEdd) is a key parameter that determines the torus structure of LLAGNs: the torus becomes large at λEdd ≳ 2 × 10−4, whereas at lower accretion rates it is little developed. The luminosity correlation between the hard X-ray and mid-infrared (MIR) bands of the LLAGNs follows the same correlation as for more luminous AGNs. This implies that mechanisms other than AGN-heated dust are responsible for the MIR emission in low Eddington ratio LLAGNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]