J/A+A/704/A211 Properties of type 1 AGNs (Yoon+, 2025)
Direct observational evidence that higher-luminosity Type 1 Active galactic
nuclei are more commonly triggered by galaxy mergers.
Yoon Y., Kim Y., Kim D., Chun K., Byun W.
<Astron. Astrophys. 704, A211 (2025)>
=2025A&A...704A.211Y 2025A&A...704A.211Y (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Active gal. nuclei ; QSOs ; Redshifts ; Optical
Keywords: galaxies: active - galaxies: interaction - quasars: general -
quasars: supermassive black holes
Abstract:
We examine the connection between galaxy mergers and the triggering of
active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using a sample of 614 type 1 AGNs at
z<0.07, along with a control sample of inactive galaxies matched to
the AGNs for comparison. We use tidal features, detected in deep
images from the DESI Legacy Imaging Survey, as direct evidence of
recent mergers. We find that the fraction of type 1 AGN hosts with
tidal features (fT) is higher for AGNs with higher luminosities and
(to a lesser extent) more massive black holes. Specifically, fT
rapidly increases from 0.05±0.03 to 0.75±0.13 as the luminosity of
the [OIII] λ5007 emission line (L[OIII]), an indicator for
bolometric AGN luminosity, increases in the range of
1039.5≲L[OIII]/(erg/s)≲10^42.5. In addition, fT increases from
0.13±0.03 to 0.43±0.09 as black hole mass (M_BH) increases in the
range of 106.0<∼MBH/M☉_≲10^8.5. The fraction fT also
increases with the Eddington ratio, although the trend is less
significant compared to that with L[OIII] and MBH. The excess of
fT, defined as the ratio of fT for AGNs to that of their matched
inactive counterparts, exhibits similar trends, primarily increasing
with L[OIII] and weakly with MBH. Our results indicate that, in
the local universe, galaxy mergers are the predominant triggering
mechanism for high-luminosity AGNs, whereas they play a lesser role in
the triggering lower-luminosity AGNs. Additionally, strong events,
such as galaxy mergers, may be more necessary to activate massive
black holes in more massive galaxies due to their lower gas fraction.
Description:
We took 614 type 1 AGNs at z<0.07 from the catalog of Oh et al.,
2015ApJS..219....1O 2015ApJS..219....1O, Cat. J/ApJS/219/1. Including the estimates from
the original catalog, we present our estimates of the type 1 AGNs,
such as bolometric luminosity, Eddington ratio, and presence of tidal
features.
File Summary:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ReadMe 80 . This file
table1.dat 70 614 Properties of type 1 AGNs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See also:
J/ApJS/219/1 : Catalog of Type-1 AGNs from SDSS-DR7 (Oh+, 2015)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table1.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 18 I18 --- SDSSObjID Object ID in SDSS
20- 28 F9.5 deg RAdeg Right ascension (J2000)
30- 38 F9.5 deg DEdeg Declination (J2000)
40- 46 F7.5 --- z Redshift
48- 52 F5.2 [10-7W] logLOIII Logarithmic luminosity of [OIII] λ5007
emission line
54- 58 F5.2 [10-7W] logLbol Logarithmic bolometric luminosity
60- 63 F4.2 [Msun] logMBH Logarithmic black hole mass
65- 68 F4.1 --- logREdd Logarithmic Eddington ratio
70 A1 --- TidalFeat [Y/N] Presence of tidal features in the host
galaxy; Y = present, N = absent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acknowledgements:
Yongjung Kim, yongjungkim(at)sejong.ac.kr
(End) Patricia Vannier [CDS] 29-Oct-2025