J/ApJ/947/62 griz light curves of Mrk 335 (Kara+, 2023)
UV-optical disk reverberation lags despite a faint X-ray corona in the active
galactic nucleus Mrk 335.
Kara E., Barth A.J., Cackett E.M., Gelbord J., Montano J., Li Y.-R.,
Santana L., Horne K., Alston W.N., Buisson D., Chelouche D., Du Pu,
Fabian A.C., Fian C., Gallo L., Goad M.R., Grupe D.,
Gonzalez Buitrago D.H., Hernandez Santisteban J.V., Kaspi S., Hu C.,
Komossa S., Kriss G.A., Lewin C., Lewis T., Loewenstein M., Lohfink A.,
Masterson M., McHardy I.M., Mehdipour M., Miller J., Panagiotou C.,
Parker M.L., Pinto C., Remillard R., Reynolds C., Rogantini D.,
Wang J.-M., Wang J., Wilkins D.
<Astrophys. J., 947, 62 (2023)>
=2023ApJ...947...62K 2023ApJ...947...62K
ADC_Keywords: Active gal. nuclei; Photometry, ugriz; X-ray sources;
Galaxies, Seyfert
Keywords: Black hole physics
Abstract:
We present the first results from a 100-day Swift, NICER, and
ground-based X-ray-UV-optical reverberation mapping campaign of the
Narrow-line Seyfert 1 Mrk 335, when it was in an unprecedented low
X-ray flux state. Despite dramatic suppression of the X-ray
variability, we still observe UV-optical lags as expected from disk
reverberation. Moreover, the UV-optical lags are consistent with
archival observations when the X-ray luminosity was >10 times higher.
Interestingly, both low- and high-flux states reveal UV-optical lags
that are 6-11 times longer than expected from a thin disk. These long
lags are often interpreted as due to contamination from the broad line
region; however the u-band excess lag (containing the Balmer jump from
the diffuse continuum) is less prevalent than in other active galactic
nuclei. The Swift campaign showed a low X-ray-to-optical correlation
(similar to previous campaigns), but NICER and ground-based monitoring
continued for another 2 weeks, during which the optical rose to the
highest level of the campaign, followed ∼10 days later by a sharp rise
in X-rays. While the low X-ray countrate and relatively large
systematic uncertainties in the NICER background make this measurement
challenging, if the optical does lead X-rays in this flare, this
indicates a departure from the zeroth-order reprocessing picture. If
the optical flare is due to an increase in mass accretion rate, this
occurs on much shorter than the viscous timescale. Alternatively, the
optical could be responding to an intrinsic rise in X-rays that is
initially hidden from our line of sight.
Description:
Our campaign of Mrk 335, using the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory
(Swift), began on 2019 October 14 for 100 consecutive days with a
cadence of roughly 3 visits per day, until 2020 January 22
(HJD-2450000 = 8770-8870). See Section 2.1.
The Neutron Star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) on the
International Space Station was set to accompany the same 100 days of
observations as Swift, with a 1 day cadence. See Section 2.2.
XMM-Newton observed Mrk 335 once, starting on HJD 2458845 for 105ks
during the 100-day reverberation mapping campaign through an
XMM-Newton Director's Discretionary Time observation (PI: N. Schartel).
See Section 2.3.
Ground-based optical imaging observations were obtained at several
sites, including the Las Cumbers Obervatory (LCO) 1m network, the 2m
Liverpool Telescope (LT), the 1.5m San Pedro Martir Observatory, the
18-inch Wise Observatory, and the 20-inch Zowada Observatory. The
ground-based campaign spanned a longer duration than that of the Swift
program, beginning on 2019 July 29 and continuing through 2020-Feb-13.
Filters included the SDSS g'r'i'z', and Pan-STARRS zs.
See Section 2.4.
Objects:
----------------------------------------------------------
RA (ICRS) DE Designation(s)
----------------------------------------------------------
00 06 19.53 +20 12 10.6 Mrk 335 = LEDA 473
----------------------------------------------------------
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
table2.dat 32 1074 Mrk 335 light curve data
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See also:
B/xmm : XMM-Newton Observation Log (XMM-Newton Science Operation Center, 2012-)
J/ApJS/121/287 : The CfA2S catalog (Huchra+, 1999)
J/ApJ/613/682 : AGN masses and broad-line region sizes (Peterson+, 2004)
J/MNRAS/397/1177 : Swift-XRT observations of GRBs (Evans+, 2009)
J/MNRAS/414/500 : Spitzer/IRS ATLAS project source (Hernan-Caballero+, 2011)
J/MNRAS/448/1541 : Spectral parameters for Mrk 335 and Ark 564 (Sarma+, 2015)
J/ApJ/806/129 : Space telescope RM project. II. Swift data (Edelson+, 2015)
J/ApJS/216/17 : AKARI 2.5-5um spectra of nearby Type-1 AGNs (Kim+, 2015)
J/ApJ/821/56 : Space telescope RM project. III. NGC 5548 (Fausnaugh+, 2016)
J/ApJ/840/41 : X-ray/UV Swift monitoring of NGC 4151 (Edelson+, 2017)
J/ApJ/870/123 : Swift optical & UV flux of four AGNs (Edelson+, 2019)
J/ApJ/896/1 : SEAMBHs. XI. Mrk 142 X-ray to optical LCs (Cackett+, 2020)
J/ApJS/253/20 : SEAMBHs XII. Reberberation mapping for 15 QSOs (Hu+, 2021)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table2.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1 A1 --- Filt [girz] Filter
3- 10 F8.3 d HJD [8700.9/8886.2] Heliocentric Julian Date;
HJD-2450000
12- 16 F5.3 10-17W/m2/nm Flux [3.245/7.662] Observed flux in
10-15erg/cm2/s/Å
18- 22 F5.3 10-17W/m2/nm e_Flux [0.003/0.118] Flux uncertainty
24- 32 A9 --- Tel Telescope Used (1)
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Note (1): Telescopes (see Table 1) as follows:
LCO-### = Las Cumbres Observatory 1m network + Sinistro;
Liverpool = Liverpool Telescope 2m + IO:O;
RATIR = San Pedro Martir Observatory 1.5m + RATIR;
WISE = Wise Observatory 18-inch + QSI683;
Zowada = Zowada Observatory 20-inch.
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History:
From electronic version of the journal
(End) Prepared by [AAS], Emmanuelle Perret [CDS] 17-Apr-2025