The first spectroscopic IR reverberation programme on Mrk 509

0586886 - ASÚ 2025 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Mitchell, J. A. J. - Ward, M. J. - Kynoch, Daniel - Hernández Santisteban, J.V. - Horne, K. - Pott, J.-U. - Esser, J. - Mercatoris, P. - Packham, C. - Ferland, G. J. - Lawrence, A. - Fischer, T. - Barth, A.J. - Villforth, C. - Winkler, H.
The first spectroscopic IR reverberation programme on Mrk 509.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Roč. 529, č. 4 (2024), s. 4824-4839. ISSN 0035-8711. E-ISSN 1365-2966
Institutional support: RVO:67985815
Keywords : quasars * emission lines * Seyfert galaxy
OECD category: Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science)
Impact factor: 4.8, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access

We describe results of a short pilot study (17 near-IR spectra over a 183 d period) for Mrk 509. The spectra give a luminosity-weighted dust radius of Rd,lum = 186 ± 4 light-days for blackbody (large grain dust), consistent with previous (photometric) reverberation campaigns, whereas carbon and silicate dust give much larger radii. We develop a method of calibrating spectral data in objects where the narrow lines are extended beyond the slit width. We demonstrate this by showing our resultant photometric band light curves are consistent with previous results, with a hot dust lag at >40 d in the K band, clearly different from the accretion disc response at <20 d in the z band. We place this limit of 40 d by demonstrating clearly that the modest variability that we do detect in the H and K band does not reverberate on time-scales of less than 40 d. We also extract the Pa β line light curve, and find a lag which is consistent with the optical BLR H β line of ~70-90 d. This is important as direct imaging of the near-IR BLR is now possible in a few objects, so we need to understand its relation to the better studied optical BLR.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0354256