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CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior Estrelas Ae/Be de Herbig (HAeBe) são estrelas jovens de massa intermediária, análogas às estrelas jovens T Tauri de baixa massa. Ambos os grupos podem apresentar sinais de acreção e ejeção de massa e excesso de infravermelho, relacionados à presença de discos circunstelares. Modelos de acreção magnetosférica são geralmente usados para descrever estrelas T Tauri com acreção, conhecidas por possuírem campos magnéticos fortes o suficiente para interromper seu disco circunstelar e formar funis de acreção. Porém, poucas estrelas HAeBes tiveram campos magnéticos detectados, assim é possível que esses sistemas acretem o material circunstelar através de um mecanismo diferente. Nosso objetivo é analisar a morfologia e a variabilidade das linhas de emissão formadas no ambiente circunstelar das estrelas HAeBes e usá-las como ferramentas para estudarmos a física dos processos de acreção/ejeção nesses sistemas. Obtivemos espectros com espectrógrafo UVES/ESO de alta resolução (R∼ 47000) de uma amostra de 15 objetos estelares, incluindo estrelas HAeBe e T Tauri, que são membros do aglomerado jovem (∼ 3 Manos) NGC 2264. Selecionamos as estrelas em nossa amostra com indicações de material circunstelar suficiente para ocorrer os processos de acreção e ejeção e fizemos uma análise detalhada de duas estrelas HAeBes - Mon-000631 (HAe) e Mon-000392 (HBe). Determinamos seus parâmetros estelares a partir de espectros sintéticos, analisamos e classificamos as linhas circunstelares como Hα, Hβ e HeI λ5875,7, de acordo com suas morfologias. Modelamos o perfil de linha médio da linha Hα, usando o modelo MHD utilizado pelo nosso grupo e encontramos assinaturas de ejeções e acreção magnetosférica nos sistemas estudados.

Recent studies have suggested that the short-timescale (

A energia emitida pelos núcleos ativos de galáxias (AGN’s) ´e provida através do escoamento acretivo de matéria em direção ao buraco negro super massivo central (SMBH). Tal escoamento se da sob a forma de um disco de acreção. As principais evidências observacionais da presença do disco são: (i) sua emissão térmica nos AGN’s mais luminosos, que d´a origem ao chamado big blue bump observado na região espectral do ultravioleta e (ii) a emissão de linhas largas com duplo-pico, entendidas como provenientes da recombinação do Hidrogênio nas regiões mais externas do disco de acreção. Os AGN’s menos luminosos, LLAGN’s, não apresentam o big blue bump, o que sugere que o disco de acreção tem uma natureza diferente; sua distribuição espectral de energia tem sido modelada através de um disco que é espesso na região interna, num regime de acreção de gás “radiativamente ineficiente”(RIAF), que é responsável pela emissão de fótons de mais alta energia (raios-X). Neste trabalho, apresentamos o monitoramento espectral de 2 LLAGN’s que apresentam linhas de emissão largas de Hα (FWHM _10.000 km/s) com duplo-pico: NGC1097 e NGC7213. Acredita-se que estas linhas sejam emitidas pelo g´as que se encontra na parte mais externa do disco de acreção, que ´e ionizado pelos raios-X emitidos pelo RIAF central. No caso de NGC1097, monitoramos o AGN em raios-X e UV – usando o satélite Swift, e também o perfil em duplo-pico – usando o telescópio SOAR entre agosto de 2012 e fevereiro de 2013. Este monitoramento permitiu que estudássemos a amplitude variacional de cada uma das curvas de luz obtidas e também aplicássemos a técnica de correlação cruzada entre as curvas de luz de raio-X e do ótico com o objetivo de elucidar se as variações no perfil em duplo-pico são reverberações das variações do contínuo ionizante de alta energia. Através deste monitoramento conseguimos colocar vínculos do limite superior para a escala de variabilidade mais curta do perfil, _ 5 dias, assim como através da modelagem dos perfis colocar vínculos na estrutura da região emissora. No caso de NGC7213 monitoramos o perfil em duplopico do AGN entre setembro de 2011 e julho de 2013. Observamos variabilidades do perfil em duas escalas de tempo: (1) a mais curta, entre 7 e 28 dias, associada as variações do fluxo total integrado do perfil e outra (2) mais longa & 3 meses, nas variações da intensidade relativa dos fluxos dos lados azul e vermelho do perfil e associada a escala de tempo dinâmica do disco de acreção. Modelamos a emissão em duplo-pico deste objeto como originária de um disco de acreção Kepleriano e relativístico, cujas características de variabilidade observadas podem ser explicadas através da rotação de um braço espiral no disco cuja emissão ´e maior do que a do disco subjacente. Por fim, estendemos a modelagem dos perfis de emissão largos de Hα para as galáxias Seyfet 1 do Palomar Sky Survey of Nearby Galaxies que apresentam emissão em duplo-pico: NGC3516, NGC4151, NGC4235, NGC5273, NGC5548. Concluímos que os perfis de emissão largos nesses objetos mais luminosos requerem uma modelagem com duas componentes: (1) uma muito larga e de duplo-pico que ´e originária da emissão do gás no disco de acreção; (2) e outra componente Gaussian de mais baixa velocidade para reproduzir a parte mais central do perfil, associada ao gás localizado além do disco. Identificamos que a componente disco é dominante em relação a emissão e que o angulo de inclinação do disco é o parâmetro mais importante na modelagem do perfil desses objetos. A geometria tipo disco tem implicações para a determinação da massa do buraco negro em galáxias ativas através do produto virial e identificando a relação entre o fator f e a largura da linha propomos um aprimoramento na obtenção de M• em galáxias ativas. The energy emitted by active galactic nuclei (AGN) is powered via accretion flows onto the central supermassive black hole (SMBH), usually in the form of an “accretion disk”in which the gas slowly spirals towards the SMBH. The most clear spectral signatures of accretion disks are: (i) their thermal emission in the most luminous AGN, which originates the so called big blue bump observed in the ultravaviolet and (ii) the emission of broad double-peaked lines, which are thought to originate via recombination of H and He atoms in the outer parts of the accretion disk. The low luminosity AGN’s (LLAGN), usually do not show the big blue bump, suggesting that their accretion flows are distinct; indeed, their spectral energy distribution have been modeled by an accretion disk in which the innermost part is geometrically thick, accreting in a radiativelly inefficient regime (RIAF) that emits high energy fotons (X-rays). In this work, we present the spectral monitoring of 2 LLAGN – NGC1097 and NGC7213 – that show broad (10,000 kms−1) double-peaked Hα emission lines, thought to be emitted by the gas in the outer parts of the accretion disk, which is ionized by the Xrays emitted by the central RIAF. In the case of NGC1097, we monitored the AGN in X-rays and UV – using the Swift satellite, and also the double-peaked profile – using the SOAR telescope between 2012 August and 2013 February. This monitoring allowed us to study the variability amplitude of each light curve as well as to apply the cross correlation technique to the light curves in X-rays and optical in order to investigate if the variations in the double-peaked profile are a reverberation of the variations in X-rays and UV (ionizing radiation). The monitoring allowed us to put constraints on the minimum variability timescale and on the structure of the line-emiting region. In the case of NGC7213 we monitired the broad double-peaked profile between 2011 September and 2013 July. We detected variabiliy of the profile in two timescales: (1) the shortest, beween 7 and 28 days, associated with vatiations in the integrated flux of the double-peaked line and another (2) larger, & 3 months, associated with variations in the relative intensity of the fluxes of the blue and red sides of the profile and identified with the dynamical timescale of the accretion disk. We modeled the double-peaked emission of this object as due the gas emission in a Keplerian and relativistic accretion disk, whose the variability features can be explained via rotation of a spiral arm in the disk which is brigther than the underlying disk. Finally, we extended the study of the modeling of broad Hα profiles to Seyfet 1 galaxies that display double-peaked profiles in the Palomar Sky Surver of Nearby Galaxies, namely NGC3516, NGC4151, NGC4235, NGC5273, NGC5548. We concluded that the broad Hα emission profiles of these galaxies require a two component modeling: (1) a very broad and double-peaked component originating from the gas in the accretion disk and another (2) low-velocity Gaussian component required to reproduce the center of the profile, associated with gas at lower velocities probably beyond the disk. We concluded that the disk component dominates at highest velocities and the inclination is the most important parameter in the determination of the width of the double-peaked profiles. The disk-like geometry has implications for the determination of the mass of the central SMBH in AGN via the virial product M• = and by identifying a relation between the factor f and the width of the broad line we propose an improvement in the estimate of the SMBH masses in Type 1 AGN.

We perform an exploratory study of the physical properties of accretion flows and jets in low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs) by modeling the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 12 LLAGNs in low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs). These SEDs we constructed from high-resolution radio, X-ray and optical/UV observations of the immediate vicinity of the black hole. We adopt a coupled accretion-jet model comprising an inner advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) and an outer standard thin disk. We present best-fit models in which either the ADAF or the jet dominate the X-ray emission. Six sources in our sample display an optical-UV excess with respect to ADAF and jet models; this excess can be explained as emission from the truncated disk with transition radii 30-225 Rs in four of them. In almost all sources the optical emission can also be attributed to unresolved, old stellar clusters with masses ~1E7-1E8 Msun. We find evidence for a correlation between the accretion rate and jet power and an anti-correlation between the radio-loudness and the accretion rate. We confirm previous findings that the radio emission is severely underpredicted by ADAF models and explained by the relativistic jet. We find evidence for a nonlinear relation between the X-ray and bolometric luminosities and a slight IR excess in the average model SED compared to that of quasars. We suggest that the hardness of the X-ray spectrum can be used to identify the X-ray emission mechanism and discuss directions for progress in understanding the origin of the X-rays., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 27 pages, 22 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1112.4640

We report the discovery of a new AM CVn system on the basis of broadband photometry obtained with the Kepler satellite supplemented by ground-based optical spectroscopy. Initially retained on Kepler target lists as a potential compact pulsator, the blue object SDSS J190817.07+394036.4 (KIC 004547333) has turned out to be a high-state AM CVn star showing the He-dominated spectrum of its accretion disk significantly reddened by interstellar absorption. We constructed new grids of NLTE synthetic spectra for accretion disks in order to analyze our spectroscopic observations. From this analysis, we infer preliminary estimates of the rate of mass transfer, the inclination angle of the disk, and the distance to the system. The AM CVn nature of the system is also evident in the Kepler light curve, from which we extracted 11 secure periodicities. The luminosity variations are dominated by a basic periodicity of 938.507 s, likely to correspond to a superhump modulation. The light curve folded on the period of 938.507 s exhibits a pulse shape that is very similar to the superhump wavefront seen in AM CVn itself, which is a high-state system and the prototype of the class. Our Fourier analysis also suggests the likely presence of a quasi-periodic oscillation similar to those already observed in some high-state AM CVn systems. Furthermore, some very low-frequency, low-amplitude aperiodic photometric activity is likely present, which is in line with what is expected in accreting binary systems. Inspired by previous work, we further looked for and found some intriguing numerical relationships between the 11 secure detected frequencies, in the sense that we can account for all of them in terms of only three basic clocks. This is further evidence in favor of the AM CVn nature of the system.

A galáxia espiral barrada NGC 1097 possui um núcleo ativo do tipo LINER (do inglês, Low-lonization Nuclear Emission Line Region) de baixa luminosidade, o qual em 1991, através de observações espectroscópicas, foi descoberto como o primeiro LINER emissor de linhas da série de Balmer largas (FWHM -10.000 km s-1) com duplo-pico. Após a sua descoberta, o perfil de duplo-pico foi monitorado pelos 11 anos seguintes e a sua variabilidade foi atribuída à emissão de gás de um disco em rotação Kepleriana não axialmente simétrico. Durante o monitoramento, a presença d perfil ficou gradativamente menos evidente, quase desaparecendo nas observações de 2001. Em 2006 Nemmen et al. modelou a distribuição espectral de energia deste núcleo ativo como devido à emissão por um "toróide de íons" que estaria localizado na parte interna do disco, num regime de acreção radiativamente ineficiente (RIAF), que seria a fonte responsável pela ionização da parte mais externa do disco (que emite a linha de duplopico). Neste trabalho apresentamos onze novas observações espectroscópicas do núcleo da galáxia NGC 1097 obtidas com o Telescópio Gemini Sul, entre Março de 2010 e Março de 2011. A partir destas observações constatamos que a emissão da linha em duplo-pico não desapareceu; pelo contrário, tornou-se mais intensa em Dezembro de 2010 do que nas observações anteriores, e sua variabilidade está novamente presente. Utilizamos dois modelos de discos de acreção para modelar a variabilidade no perfil observado. Ambos os modelos consistem de gás em rotação em um disco Kepleriano, cuja porção emissora de linhas é delimitada por um raio interno e um externo. Além disso, possui uma emissividade axialmente assimétrica sob a forma de um braço espiral. Através dos modelos vinculamos um período de rotação para o braço espiral entre 17 e 18 meses. A observação dos perfis revelou duas escalas de tempo de variação: (1) a primeira, de 7 dias, que interpretamos como a escala de tempo de viagem dos fótons emitidos pela fonte ionizante central até o disco de acreção. (2) a segunda, de 5 - 6 meses, é atribuída à escala de tempo de rotação do braço espiral no disco. Este trabalho reforça as evidêncidas obtidas em trabalhos anteriores de que as linhas de emissão de duplo-pico da série de Balmer observadas em NGC 1097, e possivelmente também em outros LINERs, são provenientes de gás em rotação num disco de acreção ionizado por um RIAF central. The spiral barred galaxy NGC 1097 has a low luminous active galactic nucleus classified as LINER, which in 1991, through spectroscopic observations, was found to be the first LINER emitting broad double-peaked Balmer lines (FWHM - 10,000 km s-1). After the discovery, the double-peaked profile was monitored for the following 11 years, and its variability was attributed to the rotation of gas in a non-axisymmetric Keplerian disk. During the monitoring, the presence of the profile became gradually less evident, nearly disappearing from the spectra in 2001. In 2006, Nemmenl et al. modelled the spectral energy distribution for this active nucleus as due the emission from an "ion torus" located in the inner parts of the disk, in a radiatively inefficient accretion flow regime (RIAF), which would be the ionizing source of the gas in the disk. In this work we present eleven new spectroscopic observations of the nucleus of the galaxy NGC 1097 obtained with the Gemini South Telescope, from March 2010 to March 2011. From our observations we found that the profile did not disappear; on the contrary, in December 2010, it became even stronger than in previous observations, and its variability is present again. We used two accretion disk models to fit theoretical profiles to our data. Both models consist of gas rotating in a Keplerian disk, in which the line emitting portion is bound by an inner and an outer radius, having a non-axisymmetric emissivity in the form of a spiral arm. From our modelling we constrained a rotation period for the spiral arm between 17 and 18 months. The observations of the profiles displayed variation on two time scales: (1) the first, of 7 days, was interpreted as the Iight travel time between the central ionizing source and the accretion disk. (2) the second, from 5 to 6 months, was attributed to the rotation time scale of the spiral arm. This work supports the evidence from previous works that broad double-peaked Balmer emission lines in NGC 1097 and possibly in other LINERs originate from an accretion disk ionized by a central RIAF.

We report the discovery of a two-armed mini-spiral structure within the inner kiloparsec of the E0 LINER/Seyfert 1 galaxy Arp102B. The arms are observed in H-alpha emission and located East and West of the nucleus, extending up to about 1 kpc from it. We use narrow-band imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys, in combination with archival VLA radio images at 3.6 and 6 cm to investigate the origin of the nuclear spiral. From the H-alpha luminosity of the spiral, we obtain an ionized gas mass of the order of one million solar masses. One possibility is that the nuclear spiral represents a gas inflow triggered by a recent accretion event which has replenished the accretion disk, giving rise to the double-peaked emission-line profiles characteristic of Arp102B. However, the radio images show a one-sided curved jet which correlates with the eastern spiral arm observed in the H-alpha image. A published milliarcsecond radio image also shows one-sided structure at position angle about 40 degrees, approximately aligned with the inner part of the eastern spiral arm. The absence of a radio counter-part to the western spiral arm is tentatively interpreted as indicating that the jet is relativistic, with an estimated speed of 0.45c. Estimates of the jet kinetic energy and the ionizing luminosity of the active nucleus indicate that both are capable of ionizing the gas along the spiral arms. We conclude that, although the gas in the nuclear region may have originated in an accretion event, the mini-spiral is most likely the result of a jet-cloud interaction rather than an inflowing stream., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

An increasing number of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) exhibit broad, double-peaked Balmer emission lines,which represent some of the best evidence for the existence of relatively large-scale accretion disks in AGNs. A set of 20 double-peaked emitters have been monitored for nearly a decade in order to observe long-term variations in the profiles of the double-peaked Balmer lines. Variations generally occur on timescales of years, and are attributed to physical changes in the accretion disk. Here we characterize the variability of a subset of seven double-peaked emitters in a model independent way. We find that variability is caused primarily by the presence of one or more discrete "lumps" of excess emission; over a timescale of a year (and sometimes less) these lumps change in amplitude and shape, but the projected velocity of these lumps changes over much longer timescales (several years). We also find that all of the objects exhibit red peaks that are stronger than the blue peak at some epochs and/or blueshifts in the overall profile, contrary to the expectations for a simple, circular accretion disk model, thus emphasizing the need for asymmetries in the accretion disk. Comparisons with two simple models, an elliptical accretion disk and a circular disk with a spiral arm, are unable to reproduce all aspects of the observed variability, although both account for some of the observed behaviors. Three of the seven objects have robust estimates of the black hole masses. For these objects the observed variability timescale is consistent with the expected precession timescale for a spiral arm, but incompatible with that of an elliptical accretion disk. We suggest that with the simple modification of allowing the spiral arm to be fragmented, many of the observed variability patterns could be reproduced., 74 pages, 4 tables, 35 figures

The Fanaroff-Riley II radio source J133658.3-295105, which is also an X-ray source, appears to be projected onto the disk of the barred-spiral galaxy M83 at about 60´´ from the galaxy´s optical nucleus. J133658.3-295105 and its radio lobes are aligned with the optical nucleus of M 83 and two other radio sources, neither of which are supernova remnants or H II regions. Due to this peculiar on-the-sky projection, J133658.3-295105 was previously studied by Gemini+GMOS optical spectroscopy, which marginally revealed the presence of Hα in emission receding at 130 km s-1 with respect to the optical nucleus. In this Letter, we reanalyze the Chandra spectroscopy carried out in 2000. We show that J133658.3-295105 presents an Fe Kα emission line at a redshift of z = 0.018. This redshift is compatible with a black hole at the distance of M 83. We discuss similarities to the recently reported micro-quasar in NGC 5408. This finding reinforces the kicked-off black hole scenario for J133658.3-295105. Fil: Dottori, Horacio. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil Fil: Diaz, Ruben Joaquin. Gemini Observatory; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico San Juan. Instituto de Ciencias Astronomicas de la Tierra y del Espacio; Argentina Fil: Albacete Colombo, Juan Facundo. Universidad Nacional del Comahue; Argentina Fil: Mast, Damian. Centro Astronomico Hispano Alemán; España. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía; España

We report evidence for a recent burst of star formation located within 9 pc of the active nucleus of NGC 1097. The observational signatures of the starburst include UV absorption lines and continuum emission from young stars observed in a small-aperture HST spectrum. The burst is a few times 10^6 yr old, has a mass of approximately 10^6 solar masses, an observed luminosity of 1.5 x 10^7 solar luminosities and is obscured by approximately 3 visual magnitudes. The importance of this finding is two-fold: (1) the proximity of the starburst to the active nucleus and thus possible association with it; (2) its obscuration by and apparent association with a dusty absorbing medium, while the broad emission lines appear unobscured, suggesting that the starburst could be embedded in a circumnuclear torus as predicted in the Unified Model of active galactic nuclei., 12 pages, 3 eps figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

We study the evolution of the broad, double-peaked H emission-line profile of the LINER/Seyfert 1 nucleus of NGC 1097, using 24 spectra obtained over a time span of 11 years—from 1991 November through 2002 October. While in the first 5 years the main variation was in the relative intensity of the blue and red peaks, in the last years we have also observed an increasing separation between the two peaks, at the same time as the integrated flux in the broad line has decreased. We propose a scenario in which the emission originates in an asymmetric accretion disk around a supermassive black hole, whose source of ionization is getting dimmer, causing the region of maximum emission to come closer to the center (and thus to regions of higher projected velocity). We use the observations to constrain the evolution of the accretion disk emission and to evaluate two models: the elliptical-disk model previously found to reproduce the observations from 1991 to 1996 and a model of a circular disk with a single spiral arm. In both models the peak emissivity of the disk drifts inward with time, while the azimuthal orientation of the elliptical-disk or the spiral pattern varies with time. In the case of the spiral-arm model, the whole set of data is consistent with a monotonic precession of the spiral pattern, which has completed almost two revolutions since 1991. Thus, we favor the spiral-arm model, which, through the precession period, implies a black hole mass that is consistent with the observed stellar velocity dispersion. In contrast, the elliptical-disk model requires a mass that is an order of magnitude lower. Finally, we have found tentative evidence of the emergence of an accretion disk wind, which we hope to explore further with future observations.

We report the results of 143.2 hours of time-series photometry over a 12 day period for AM CVn (= HZ 29) as part of the Whole Earth Telescope (WET) project.ˡ This star is believed to be an ultra-short period cataclysmic binary. In the temporal spectrum of the light curve we find a series of 5 harmonically related frequency mo dulations, some with sidebands with a constant frequency spacing of 20.8 μHz always on the high-frequency side. The set of harmonics has a fundamental frequency of 951 μHz. No modulation is detected at this frequency in the light curve. In addition, modulations with frequencies 972.5 and 988.9 μHz are detected with low amplitudes. The structure of the dominant 1903 Hz modulation explains part of the “phase jitter” observed earlier. The amplitude of this peak is modulated with a period of 13.32 ± 0.05 hrs.

We present new spectroscopic observations of the LINER (and now Seyfert 1) nucleus of NGC 1097, and discuss the evolution of its broad, double-peaked Balmer lines. When originally discovered in 1991, the red peak of the double-peaked Hα line was stronger than the blue, while by 1994 the Ha profile had become almost symmetric and the integrated line flux had decreased to half its original value. Our new spectrum, taken in 1996, shows that the broad, double-peaked lines have returned to almost their original strengths, the profiles of Hβ and Hα are identical to within errors, and the broad-line emitting region is unreddened. However, the proÐle of the Balmer lines is now such that the blue peak is stronger than the red, opposite to the asymmetry observed in 1991. Various models are considered for the observed behavior, all assuming that the emission lines originate in an accretion disk. We present a refined version of the precessing, planar, elliptical accretion-ring model proposed by Storchi-Bergmann et al. and Eracleous et al. This model provides an acceptable fit to the line profiles. We also consider the possibility that the line-profile evolution results from a precessing warp in the disk, induced by irradiation from the center, and show that the range of radii and precession timescales expected in this model are consistent with the observations. The sudden appearance of the “disklike" broad-line profiles in NGC 1097 could have resulted from the formation of a new accretion disk due, for example, to the tidal disruption of a star or the illumination of a preexisting disk by a transient ionizing source at the center of the disk.

We report the observation of an outflow perpendicular to the radio jet in near-infrared integral field spectra of the inner 250 pc of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5929. The observations were obtained with the Gemini Near infrared Integral Field Spectrograph at a spatial resolution of ~20 pc and spectral resolution R~5300 and reveal a region 50 pc wide crossing the nucleus and extending by 300 pc perpendicularly to the known radio jet in this galaxy. Along this structure - which we call SE-NW strip - the emission-line profiles show two velocity components, one blueshifted and the other redshifted by -150 km/s and 150 km/s, respectively, relative to the systemic velocity. We interpret these two components as due to an outflow perpendicular to the radio jet, what is supported by low frequency radio emission observed along the same region. We attribute this feature to the interaction of ambient gas with an "equatorial outflow" predicted in recent accretion disk and torus wind models. Perpendicularly to the SE-NW strip, thus approximately along the radio jet, single component profiles show blueshifts of ~-150 km/s to the north-east and similar redshifts to the south-west, which can be attributed to gas counter-rotating relative to the stellar kinematics. More double-peaked profiles are observed in association with the two radio hot-spots, attributed to interaction of the radio jet with surrounding gas., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL; 5 pages

We study optical spectra in high and low activity states of the faint, distant Seyfert 1 galaxy C16.16. A strong stellar population contribution to the continuum is observed, even in the high-state spectrum. The low-ionization emission lines show large equivalent widths. Narrow-line ratios are used to parameterize and investigate the physical conditions in the narrow-line region. Photoionization models with nitrogen depletion, ionization continuum typical of an active galactic nucleus (AGN), and an ionization parameter U = 10 -2.8 reproduce the observed narrow lines. The AGN continuum shows a strong variation, while the Balmer lines vary moderately. The Balmer lines have a broad and asymmetric component with double-peaked structure. Using the profiles of emission lines originated in a relativistic circular disk, we successfully fit the observed broad Hα profile. This disk component shows no variation in the observations. A variable, intermediate-width (~6000 km s-ˡ) Balmer component is also found. These two com­ ponents seem to arise by different processes.

We present a calculation of the profiles of emission lines originating in a relativistic, eccentric disk, and show examples of the resulting model profiles. Our calculations are motivated by the fact that in about one­ quarter of the double-peaked emission lines observed in radio-loud active galactic nuclei (and in the mildly active nucleus of NGC 1097), the red peak is stronger than the blue peak, which is contrary to the prediction of relativistic, circular disk models. Using the eccentric disk model we fit some of the observed profiles that cannot be fitted with a circular disk model. We propose two possible scenarios for the formation of an eccentric disk in an active galactic nucleus: (a) tidal perturbation of the disk around a supermassive black hole by a smaller binary companion, and (b) formation of an elliptical disk from the debris resulting from the tidal disruption of a star by the central black hole. In the former case we show that the eccentricity can be long-lived because of the presence of the binary companion. In the latter case, although the inner parts of the disk may circularize quickly, we estimate that the outer parts will maintain their eccentricity for times much longer than the local viscous time. If any of the observed double-peaked emission lines do indeed arise in an eccentric disk, their profiles are likely to vary due to precession of the disk, thus providing a means of testing our proposed scenario. We estimate that for a black hole with a mass of order 10 6 Mʘ, the precision period due to general relativistic advance of the pericenter can be as short as a decade. However, for a black hole with a mass of the order of 10 8 Mʘ the precession period is of the order of a few centuries, be it due to general relativistic effects or due to the tidal effects of a binary companion. We suggest that it may nevertheless be possible to detect profile variability on much shorter timescales by comparing the evolution of the line profile with detailed model predictions. We argue that line-profile variability may also be the most promising dis­ criminant among competing models for the origin of asymmetric, double-peaked emission lines.

The unusual variable star AM CVn has puzzled astronomers for over 40 years. This object, both a photometric and spectroscopic variable, is believed to contain a pair of hydrogen-deficient white dwarfs of extreme mass ratio, transferring material via an accretion disk. We examine the photometric properties of AM CVn, analyzing 289 hours of high-speed photometric data spanning 1976 to 1992. The power spectrum displays significant peaks at 988.7, 1248.8, 1902.5, 2853.8, 3805.2, 4756.5, and 5707.8 μHz (1011.4, 800.8, 525.6, 350.4, 262.8, 210.2, and 175.2 s). We find no detectable power at 951.3 μHz (1051 s), the previously reported main frequency. The 1902.5, 2853.9, and 3805.2 μHz peaks are multiplets, with frequency splitting in each case of 20.77 ± 0.05 μHz. The 1902.5 μHz seasonal pulse shapes are identical, within measurement noise, and maintain the same amplitude and phase as a function of color. We have determined the dominant frequency to be 1902.509802 ± 0.00001 μHz, with p = + 1.71 (±0.04) X 10-11 s s-ˡ. We discuss the implications of these findings on a model forAM CVn.

The broad (FWHM ~ 10,000 km/s) double-peaked H{\alpha} profile from the LINER/Seyfert 1 nucleus of NGC 1097 was discovered in 1991, and monitored for the following 11 years. The profile showed variations attributed to the rotation of gas in a non-axisymmetric Keplerian accretion disk, ionized by a varying radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF) located in the inner parts of the disk. We present and model 11 new spectroscopic observations of the double-peaked profile taken between 2010 March and 2011 March. This series of observations was motivated by the finding that in 2010 March the flux in the double-peaked line was again strong, becoming, in 2010 December, even stronger than in the observations of a decade ago. We also discovered shorter timescale variations than in the previous observations: (1) the first, of ~7 days, is interpreted as due to "reverberation" of the variation of the ionizing source luminosity, and the timescale of 7 days as the light crossing time between the source and the accretion disk; this new timescale and its interpretation provides a distance between the emitting gas and the supermassive black hole and as such introduces a new constraint on its mass; (2) the second, of approximately 5 months, was attributed to the rotation of a spiral arm in the disk, which was found to occur on the dynamical timescale. We use two accretion disk models to fit theoretical profiles to the new data, both having non-axisymmetric emissivities produced by the presence of an one-armed spiral. Our modeling constrains the rotation period for the spiral to be approximately 18 months. This work supports our previous conclusion that the broad double-peaked Balmer emission lines in NGC 1097, and probably also in other low-luminosity active nuclei, originate from an accretion disk ionized by a central RIAF., Comment: Published in ApJ (2012 March). 13 pages, 11 figures