UV/Optical Nuclear Activity in the gE Galaxy NGC 1399

O’Connell, R. W.; Martin, Jodie R.; Crane, Jeffrey D.; Burstein, David; Bohlin, R. C.; Landsman, W. B.; Freedman, Ian; Rood, Robert T.

doi:10.1086/497678

Cited by 15 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(93 reference statements)

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“…It is characterized by a barely resolved nuclear source, which increased its UV luminosity by a factor of 1.6 in a period of 6 months. The amplitude and scale time of the variation are similar to those of the UV-brightest nuclear transients, which were earlier discovered in NGC 4552 (Renzini et al 1995;Cappellari et al 1999), NGC 4579 (Maoz et al 1995;Barth et al 1996), and NGC 1399(O'Connell et al 2005.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…The images of its nucleus obtained in a five year period with the Faint Object Camera (FOC) showed an increase of the UV luminosity by a factor of 4.5 followed by a dimming of a factor of 2. O'Connell et al (2005) unveiled a similar phenomenon in the giant elliptical NGC 1399 using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), while a rapidly fading UV source was detected in the Virgo cluster spiral NGC 4579 (Maoz et al 1995;Barth et al 1996). This kind of research took on a more systematic approach by Maoz et al (2005), who monitored the UV variability of a sample of 17 LINER galaxies with compact nuclear UV sources by means of the HST Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

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The ultraviolet flare at the center of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4278

Cardullo

Corsini

Beifiori

et al. 2009

A&A

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Context. A large fraction of otherwise normal galaxies shows a weak nuclear activity. One of the signatures of the low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs) is ultraviolet variability which was serendipitously discovered in the center of some low-ionization nuclear emission-line region (LINER) galaxies. Aims. There is a pressing need to acquire better statistics about UV flaring and variability in galaxy nuclei, both in terms of the number and monitoring of targets. The Science Data Archive of the Hubble Space Telescope was queried to find all the elliptical galaxies with UV images obtained in different epochs with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and possibly with nuclear spectra obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) in the region of the Hα emission line. These data were found only for the elliptical radiogalaxy NGC 4278. Methods. The UV flux of the nuclear source of NGC 4278 was measured by means of aperture photometry on the WFPC2/F218W images obtained between June 1994 and January 1995. The mass of the central supermassive black hole (SBH) was estimated by measuring the broad components of the emission lines observed in the STIS/G750M spectrum and assuming that the gas is uniformly distributed in a sphere. Results. The nucleus of NGC 4278 hosts a barely resolved but strongly variable UV source. Its UV luminosity increased by a factor of 1.6 in a period of 6 months. The amplitude and scale time of the UV flare in NGC 4278 are remarkably similar to those of the brightest UV nuclear transients which were found earlier in other LLAGNs. The mass of the SBH was found to be in the range between 7 × 10 7 and 2 × 10 9 M . This is in agreement with previous findings based on different assumptions about the gas distribution and with the predictions based on the galaxy velocity dispersion. Conclusions. All the LINER nuclei with available multi-epoch UV observations and a detected radio core are characterized by a UV variable source. This supports the idea that the UV variability is a relatively common phenomenon in galaxy centers, perhaps providing the missing link between LINERs and true AGN activity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

The ultraviolet flare at the center of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4278

Cardullo

Corsini

Beifiori

et al. 2009

A&A

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“…They imply a strong age dependency in the evolution of the FUV sources responsible for the UV upturn phenomenon in old stellar systems. It is unlikely that the episodic star formation or AGN outburst reproduces the systematic fading in UV flux with look-back time, although their contamination on the UV flux is evident in some cases (e.g., O'Connell et al 2005;Rich et al 2005;Yi et al 2005;Schawinski et al 2006). Various hot subdwarf formation mechanisms in binary systems may also contribute to the UV flux in early-type galaxies; yet such models appear to have difficulty reproducing the redshift evolution of the UV upturn found so far (Brown et al 2006;Han et al 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Look‐back Time Evolution of Far‐Ultraviolet Flux from the Brightest Cluster Elliptical Galaxies at z < 0.2

Ree

Lee

et al. 2007

ASTROPHYS J SUPPL S

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We present the GALEX UV photometry of the elliptical galaxies in Abell clusters at moderate redshifts (z < 0.2) for the study of the look-back time evolution of the UV upturn phenomenon. The brightest elliptical galaxies (M r −22) in 12 remote clusters are compared with the nearby giant elliptical galaxies of comparable optical luminosity in the Fornax and Virgo clusters. The sample galaxies presented here appear to be quiescent without signs of massive star formation or strong nuclear activity, and show smooth, extended profiles in their UV images indicating that the far-UV (FUV) light is mostly produced by hot stars in the underlying old stellar population. Compared to their counterparts in nearby clusters, the FUV flux of cluster giant elliptical galaxies at moderate redshifts fades rapidly with ∼ 2 Gyrs of look-back time, and the observed pace in F U V − V color evolution agrees reasonably well with the prediction from the population synthesis models where the dominant FUV source is hot horizontal-branch stars and their progeny. A similar amount of color spread (∼ 1 mag) in F U V − V exists among the brightest cluster elliptical galaxies at z ∼ 0.1, as observed among the nearby giant elliptical galaxies of comparable optical luminosity.

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“…), NGC1399(O'Connell et al 2005), NGC4552(Cappellari et al 1999;Maoz et al 2005) and NGC 4278(Cardullo et al 2009). Hard X-ray point sources have been detected inNGC 4261, 4278, 4486, 4552, 5419 and IC 1459 (González-Martín et al 2009).…”

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confidence: 98%

Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes: A Search in the Nearby Universe

Lena

Robinson

Marconi

et al. 2014

ApJ

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The coalescence of a binary black hole can be accompanied by a large gravitational recoil due to anisotropic emission of gravitational waves. A recoiling supermassive black hole (SBH) can subsequently undergo long-lived oscillations in the potential well of its host galaxy, suggesting that offset SBHs may be common in the cores of massive ellipticals. We have analyzed HST archival images of 14 nearby core ellipticals, finding evidence for small ( 10 pc) displacements between the AGN (locating the SBH) and the center of the galaxy (the mean photocenter) in 10 of them. Excluding objects that may be affected by large-scale isophotal asymmetries, we consider six galaxies to have detected displacements, including M87, where a displacement was previously reported by Batcheldor et al. (2010). In individual objects, these displacements can be attributed to residual gravitational recoil oscillations following a major or minor merger within the last few Gyr. For plausible merger rates, however, there is a high probability of larger displacements than those observed, if SBH coalescence took place in these galaxies. Remarkably, the AGN-photocenter displacements are approximately aligned with the radio source axis in four of the six galaxies with displacements, including three of the four having relatively powerful kpc-scale jets. This suggests intrinsic asymmetries in radio jet power as a possible displacement mechanism, although approximate alignments are also expected for gravitational recoil. Orbital motion in SBH binaries and interactions with massive perturbers can produce the observed displacement amplitudes but do not offer a ready explanation for the alignments.

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UV/Optical Nuclear Activity in the gE Galaxy NGC 1399

Cited by 15 publications

References 59 publications

The ultraviolet flare at the center of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4278

The ultraviolet flare at the center of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4278

The Look‐back Time Evolution of Far‐Ultraviolet Flux from the Brightest Cluster Elliptical Galaxies at z < 0.2

Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes: A Search in the Nearby Universe

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