The lick AGN monitoring project 2011: Dynamical modeling of the broad-line region in Mrk 50

Author Info

Anna Pancoast, University of California - Santa Barbara
Brendon J. Brewer, University of California - Santa Barbara
Tommaso Treu, University of California - Santa Barbara
Aaron J. Barth, University of California - Irvine
Vardha N. Bennert, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis ObispoFollow
Gabriela Canalizo, University of California - Riverside
Alexei V. Filippenko, University of California - Berkeley
Elinor L. Gates, Lick Observatory
Jenny E. Greene, Princeton University
Weidong Li, University of California - Berkeley
Matthew A. Malkan, University of California - Los Angeles
David J. Sand, University of California - Santa Barbara
Daniel Stern, California Institute of Technology
Jong-Hak Woo, Seoul National University
Roberto J. Assef, California Institute of Technology
Hyun-Jin Bae, Yonsei University
Tabitha Buehler, Brigham Young University - Utah
S. Bradley Cenko, University of California - Berkeley
Kelsey I. Clubb, University of California - Berkeley
Michael C. Cooper, University of California - Irvine
Aleksandar M. Diamond-Stanic, University of California - San Diego
Kyle D. Hiner, University of California - Riverside
Sebastian F. Hönig, University of California - Santa Barbara
Michael D. Joner, Brigham Young University - Utah
Michael T. Kandrashoff, University of California - Berkeley
C. David Laney, Brigham Young University - Utah
Mariana S. Lazarova, University of California - Riverside
A.M. Nierenberg, University of California - Santa Barbara
Dawoo Park, Seoul National University
Jeffrey M. Silverman, University of California - Berkeley
Donghoon Son, Seoul National University
Alessandro Sonnenfeld, University of California - Santa Barbara
Shawn J. Thorman, University of California - Irvine
Erik J. Tollerud, University of California - Irvine
Jonelle L. Walsh, University of Texas at Austin
Richard Walters, California Institute of Technology

Recommended Citation

Published in The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 754, Issue 1, July 20, 2012, pages 1-8.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/754/1/49.

Abstract

We present dynamical modeling of the broad-line region (BLR) in the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 50 using reverberation mapping data taken as part of the Lick AGN Monitoring Project (LAMP) 2011. We model the reverberation mapping data directly, constraining the geometry and kinematics of the BLR, as well as deriving a black hole mass estimate that does not depend on a normalizing factor or virial coefficient. We find that the geometry of the BLR in Mrk 50 is a nearly face-on thick disk, with a mean radius of 9.6^+1.2 _–0.9 light days, a width of the BLR of 6.9^+1.2 _–1.1 light days, and a disk opening angle of 25 ± 10 deg above the plane. We also constrain the inclination angle to be 9⁺⁷ _–5 deg, close to face-on. Finally, the black hole mass of Mrk 50 is inferred to be log₁₀(M _BH/M _☉) = 7.57^+0.44 _–0.27. By comparison to the virial black hole mass estimate from traditional reverberation mapping analysis, we find the normalizing constant (virial coefficient) to be log₁₀ f = 0.78^+0.44 _–0.27, consistent with the commonly adopted mean value of 0.74 based on aligning the M _BH-σ* relation for active galactic nuclei and quiescent galaxies. While our dynamical model includes the possibility of a net inflow or outflow in the BLR, we cannot distinguish between these two scenarios.

Disciplines

Physics

Copyright

2012 IOP Publishing.