The WISSH quasars project

Zappacosta, L.; Piconcelli, E.; Giustini, M.; Vietri, G.; Duras, F.; Miniutti, G.; Bischetti, M.; Bongiorno, A.; Brusa, M.; Chiaberge, M.; Comastri, A.; Feruglio, C.; Luminari, A.; Marconi, A.; Ricci, Cláudio; Vignali, C.; Fiore, F.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201937292

Cited by 28 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…To cover a wider range in luminosity, we added the AGN sample observed in the KASHz survey matched in redshift (z ∼ 2-2.5) and the high luminosity targets from the WISSH survey (e.g. Bischetti et al 2017;Martocchia et al 2017;Zappacosta et al 2020). We derived the Pearson coefficient and the p-value for each of these relations and the results are reported in Table 5.…”

Section: Scaling Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Super

Kakkad

Mainieri

Vietri

et al. 2020

A&A

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Aims. The SINFONI survey for Unveiling the Physics and Effect of Radiative feedback (SUPER) aims to trace and characterise ionised gas outflows and their impact on star formation in a statistical sample of X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) at z ∼ 2. We present the first SINFONI results for a sample of 21 Type 1 AGN spanning a wide range in bolometric luminosity (log Lbol = 45.4–47.9 erg s−1). The main aims of this paper are to determine the extension of the ionised gas, characterise the occurrence of AGN-driven outflows, and link the properties of such outflows with those of the AGN. Methods. We used adaptive optics-assisted SINFONI observations to trace ionised gas in the extended narrow line region using the [O III] λ5007 line. We classified a target as hosting an outflow if its non-parametric velocity of the [O III] line, w80, was larger than 600 km s−1. We studied the presence of extended emission using dedicated point-spread function (PSF) observations, after modelling the PSF from the Balmer lines originating from the broad line region. Results. We detect outflows in all the Type 1 AGN sample based on the w80 value from the integrated spectrum, which is in the range ∼650–2700 km s−1. There is a clear positive correlation between w80 and the AGN bolometric luminosity (> 99% correlation probability), and the black hole mass (98% correlation probability). A comparison of the PSF and the [O III] radial profile shows that the [O III] emission is spatially resolved for ∼35% of the Type 1 sample and the outflows show an extension up to ∼6 kpc. The relation between maximum velocity and the bolometric luminosity is consistent with model predictions for shocks from an AGN-driven outflow. The escape fraction of the outflowing gas increases with the AGN luminosity, although for most galaxies, this fraction is less than 10%.

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Section: Scaling Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Super

Kakkad

Mainieri

Vietri

et al. 2020

A&A

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124

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“…12 that the properties of the CIV line correlate with all three of these parameters, but the highest significant correlation is with α OX . Recently, Zappacosta et al (2020), studying the WISSH sources, reported a significant correlation between the luminosity in the 2-10 keV band (L 2−10 keV ) and the blueshift of the CIV line, that is, objects exhibiting a high-velocity shift have lower L 2−10 keV . With the SUPER sample we are not able to properly investigate this relation.…”

Section: Connection Between CIV Velocity Shift and Agn Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(4) and (8). For the α OX we used the values reported inMartocchia et al (2017) andZappacosta et al (2020).…”

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confidence: 99%

Super

Vietri

Mainieri

Kakkad

et al. 2020

A&A

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Aims. The SINFONI survey for Unveiling the Physics and Effect of Radiative feedback (SUPER) was designed to conduct a blind search for AGN-driven outflows on X-ray-selected AGNs at redshift z ∼ 2 with high (∼2 kpc) spatial resolution, and to correlate them with the properties of their host galaxy and central black hole. The main aims of this paper are: (a) to derive reliable estimates for the masses of the black holes and accretion rates for the Type-1 AGNs in this survey; and (b) to characterise the properties of the AGN-driven winds in the broad line region (BLR). Methods. We analysed rest-frame optical and UV spectra of 21 Type-1 AGNs. We used Hα, Hβ, and MgII line profiles to estimate the masses of the black holes. We used the blueshift of the CIV line profile to trace the presence of winds in the BLR. Results. We find that the Hα and Hβ line widths are strongly correlated, as is the line continuum luminosity at 5100 Å with Hα line luminosity, resulting in a well-defined correlation between black hole masses estimated from Hα and Hβ. Using these lines, we estimate that the black hole masses for our objects are in the range Log (MBH/M⊙) = 8.4–10.8 and are accreting at λEdd = 0.04–1.3. Furthermore, we confirm the well-known finding that the CIV line width does not correlate with the Balmer lines and the peak of the line profile is blueshifted with respect to the [OIII]-based systemic redshift. These findings support the idea that the CIV line is tracing outflowing gas in the BLR for which we estimated velocities up to ∼4700 km s−1. We confirm the strong dependence of the BLR wind velocity on the UV-to-X-ray continuum slope, the bolometric luminosity, and Eddington ratio. We infer BLR mass outflow rates in the range 0.005–3 M⊙ yr−1, revealing a correlation with the bolometric luminosity consistent with that observed for ionised winds in the narrow line region (NLR), and X-ray winds detected in local AGNs, and kinetic power ∼10−7 − 10−4 × LBol. The coupling efficiencies predicted by AGN-feedback models are much higher than the values reported for the BLR winds in the SUPER sample; although it should be noted that only a fraction of the energy injected by the AGN into the surrounding medium is expected to become kinetic power in the outflow. Finally, we find an anti-correlation between the equivalent width of the [OIII] line and the CIV velocity shift, and a positive correlation between this latter parameter and [OIII] outflow velocity. These findings, for the first time in an unbiased sample of AGNs at z ∼ 2, support a scenario where BLR winds are connected to galaxy-scale detected outflows, and are therefore capable of affecting the gas in the NLR located at kiloparsec scale distances.

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“…5.8 ± 0.7%. The α ox − log λ Edd distribution of our fourteen high-λ Edd AGN, the XMM-COSMOS type-1 AGN of Lusso et al (2010), the suband super-Eddington AGN of Liu et al (2021) and the thirteen hyper-luminous WISSH QSOs of Zappacosta et al (2020), divided in different regimes of bolometric luminosity, is shown in the right panel of Fig. 5.…”

Section: X-ray Weaknessmentioning

confidence: 93%

X-ray spectroscopic survey of highly-accreting AGN

Laurenti,

Piconcelli,

Zappacosta

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Improving our understanding of the nuclear properties of high-Eddington ratio (λ Edd ) active galactic nuclei (AGN) is necessary since at this regime the radiation pressure is expected to affect the structure and efficiency of the accretion disc-corona system. This may cause departures from the typical nuclear properties of low-λ Edd AGN, which have been largely studied so far. We present here the X-ray spectral analysis of 14 radio-quiet, λ Edd 1 AGN at 0.4 ≤ z ≤ 0.75, observed with XMM-Newton. Optical/UV data from simultaneous Optical Monitor observations have been also considered. These quasars have been selected to have relatively high values of black hole mass (M BH ∼ 10 8−8.5 M ) and bolometric luminosity (L bol ∼ 10 46 erg s −1 ), in order to complement previous studies of high-λ Edd AGN at lower M BH and L bol . We studied the relation between λ Edd and other key X-ray spectral parameters, such as the photon index (Γ) of the power-law continuum, the X-ray bolometric correction k bol,X and the optical/UV-to-X-ray spectral index α ox . Our analysis reveals that, despite the homogeneous optical and SMBH accretion properties, the X-ray properties of these high-λ Edd AGN are quite heterogeneous. We indeed measured values of Γ comprised between 1.3 and 2.5, at odds with the expectations based on previously reported Γ − λ Edd relations, by which Γ ≥ 2 would be an ubiquitous hallmark of AGN with λ Edd ∼ 1. Interestingly, we found that ∼ 30% of the sources are X-ray weak, with an X-ray emission about a factor of ∼ 10 − 80 fainter than that of typical AGN at similar UV luminosities. The X-ray weakness seems to be intrinsic and not due to the presence of absorption along the line of sight to the nucleus. This result may indicate that high-λ Edd AGN commonly undergo periods of intrinsic X-ray weakness. Furthermore, results from a follow-up monitoring with Swift of one of these X-ray weak sources suggest that these periods can last for several years.

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The WISSH quasars project

Cited by 28 publications

References 64 publications

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X-ray spectroscopic survey of highly-accreting AGN

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