We present second epoch optical spectra for 30 changing-look (CL) candidates found by searching for Type-1 optical variability in a sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) spectroscopically classified as Type 2. We use a random-forest-based light-curve classifier and spectroscopic follow-up, confirming 50 per cent of candidates as turning-on CLs. In order to improve this selection method and to better understand the nature of the not-confirmed CL candidates, we perform a multiwavelength variability analysis including optical, mid-infrared (MIR), and X-ray data, and compare the results from the confirmed and not-confirmed CLs identified in this work. We find that most of the not-confirmed CLs are consistent with weak Type 1s dominated by host-galaxy contributions, showing weaker optical and MIR variability. On the contrary, the confirmed CLs present stronger optical fluctuations and experience a long (from five to ten years) increase in their MIR fluxes and the colour W1–W2 over time. In the 0.2–2.3 keV band, at least four out of 11 CLs with available SRG/eROSITA detections have increased their flux in comparison with archival upper limits. These common features allow us to select the most promising CLs from our list of candidates, leading to nine sources with similar multiwavelength photometric properties to our CL sample. The use of machine learning algorithms with optical and MIR light curves will be very useful to identify CLs in future large-scale surveys.
The scarce optical variability studies in spectrally classified Type 2 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have led to the discovery of anomalous objects that are incompatible with the simplest unified models (UMs). This paper focuses on the exploration of different variability features that allow to distinguish between obscured, Type 2 AGNs and the variable, unobscured Type 1s. We analyse systematically the Zwicky Transient Facility, 2.5-yr-long light curves of ∼15 000 AGNs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 16, which are generally considered Type 2s due to the absence of strong broad emission lines (BELs). Consistent with the expectations from the UM, the variability features are distributed differently for distinct populations, with spectrally classified weak Type 1s showing one order of magnitude larger variances than the Type 2s. We find that the parameters given by the damped random walk model lead to broader H α equivalent width for objects with τg > 16 d and long-term structure function SF∞, g > 0.07 mag. By limiting the variability features, we find that ∼11 per cent of Type 2 sources show evidence for optical variations. A detailed spectral analysis of the most variable sources (∼1 per cent of the Type 2 sample) leads to the discovery of misclassified Type 1s with weak BELs and changing-state candidates. This work presents one of the largest systematic investigations of Type 2 AGN optical variability to date, in preparation for future large photometric surveys.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 2108402
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10381340
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 518
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 1531-1542
- Size(s):
- ["p. 1531-1542"]
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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