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1. Velocity-resolved Reverberation Mapping of NGC 3227

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad08b8  

   Bentz, Misty C.; Markham, Madison; Rosborough, Sara; Onken, Christopher A.; Street, Rachel; Valluri, Monica; Treu, Tommaso (December 2023, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We describe the results of a new reverberation mapping program focused on the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 3227. Photometric and spectroscopic monitoring was carried out from 2022 December to 2023 June with the Las Cumbres Observatory network of telescopes. We detected time delays in several optical broad emission lines, with Hβhaving the longest delay at ${\tau }_{\mathrm{cent}}={4.0}_{-0.9}^{+0.9}$days and Heiihaving the shortest delay with ${\tau }_{\mathrm{cent}}={0.9}_{-0.8}^{+1.1}$days. We also detect velocity-resolved behavior of the Hβemission line, with different line-of-sight velocities corresponding to different observed time delays. Combining the integrated Hβtime delay with the width of the variable component of the emission line and a standard scale factor suggests a black hole mass of $M_{\mathrm{BH}}={1.1}_{-0.3}^{+0.2}\times {10}^7$M_⊙. Modeling of the full velocity-resolved response of the Hβemission line with the phenomenological codeCARAMELfinds a similar mass of $M_{\mathrm{BH}}={1.2}_{-0.7}^{+1.5}\times {10}^7$M_⊙and suggests that the Hβ-emitting broad-line region (BLR) may be represented by a biconical or flared disk structure that we are viewing at an inclination angle ofθ_i≈ 33° and with gas motions that are dominated by rotation. The new photoionization-based BLR modeling toolBELMACfinds general agreement with the observations when assuming the best-fitCARAMELresults; however,BELMACprefers a thick-disk geometry and kinematics that are equally composed of rotation and inflow. Both codes infer a radially extended and flattened BLR that is not outflowing. 

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2. What Does the Geometry of the Hβ BLR Depend On?

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/accc84  

   Villafaña, Lizvette; Williams, Peter R.; Treu, Tommaso; Brewer, Brendon J.; Barth, Aaron J.; U, Vivian; Bennert, Vardha N.; Guo, Hengxiao; Bentz, Misty C.; Canalizo, Gabriela; et al (May 2023, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We combine our dynamical modeling black-hole mass measurements from the Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2016 sample with measured cross-correlation time lags and line widths to recover individual scale factors,f, used in traditional reverberation-mapping analyses. We extend our sample by including prior results from Code for AGN Reverberation and Modeling of Emission Lines (caramel) studies that have utilized our methods. Aiming to improve the precision of black-hole mass estimates, as well as uncover any regularities in the behavior of the broad-line region (BLR), we search for correlations betweenfand other AGN/BLR parameters. We find (i) evidence for a correlation between the virial coefficient ${\log }_{10}\left(f_{\mathrm{mean},\sigma }\right)$and black-hole mass, (ii) marginal evidence for a similar correlation between ${\log }_{10}\left(f_{\mathrm{rms},\sigma }\right)$and black-hole mass, (iii) marginal evidence for an anticorrelation of BLR disk thickness with ${\log }_{10}\left(f_{\mathrm{mean},\mathrm{FWHM}}\right)$and ${\log }_{10}\left(f_{\mathrm{rms},\mathrm{FWHM}}\right)$, and (iv) marginal evidence for an anticorrelation of inclination angle with ${\log }_{10}\left(f_{\mathrm{mean},\mathrm{FWHM}}\right)$, ${\log }_{10}\left(f_{\mathrm{rms},\sigma }\right)$, and ${\log }_{10}\left(f_{\mathrm{mean},\sigma }\right)$. Last, we find marginal evidence for a correlation between line-profile shape, when using the root-mean-square spectrum, ${\log }_{10}{\left(\mathrm{FWHM}/\sigma \right)}_{\mathrm{rms}}$, and the virial coefficient, ${\log }_{10}\left(f_{\mathrm{rms},\sigma }\right)$, and investigate how BLR properties might be related to line-profile shape usingcaramelmodels. 

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3. The Active Galactic Nuclei in the Hobby–Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment Survey (HETDEX). II. Luminosity Function

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac8054  

   Liu, Chenxu; Gebhardt, Karl; Cooper, Erin Mentuch; Zhang, Yechi; Schneider, Donald P.; Ciardullo, Robin; Davis, Dustin; Farrow, Daniel J.; Finkelstein, Steven L.; Gronwall, Caryl; et al (August 2022, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We present the Lyαemission line luminosity function (LF) of the active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the first release of the Hobby–Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment Survey (HETDEX) AGN catalog. The AGN are selected either by emission line pairs characteristic of AGN or by a single broad emission line, free of any photometric preselections (magnitude/color/morphology). The sample consists of 2346 AGN spanning 1.88 <z< 3.53, covering an effective area of 30.61 deg². Approximately 2.6% of the HETDEX AGN are not detected at >5σconfidence atr∼ 26 in the deepestr-band images we have searched. The Lyαline luminosity ranges from ∼10^42.3to 10^45.9erg s⁻¹. Our LyαLF shows a turnover luminosity with opposite slopes on the bright end and the faint end: The space density is highest at $L_{\text{Ly}\text{α}}^{\ast }={10}^{43.4}$erg s⁻¹. We explore the evolution of the AGN LF over a broader redshift range (0.8 <z< 3); constructing the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) LF with the 1450 Å monochromatic luminosity of the power-law component of the continuum (M₁₄₅₀) fromM₁₄₅₀∼ −18 to −27.5. We divide the sample into three redshift bins (z∼ 1.5, 2.1, and 2.6). In all three redshift bins, our UV LFs indicate that the space density of AGN is highest at the turnover luminosity $M_{1450}^{*}$with opposite slopes on the bright end and the faint end. TheM₁₄₅₀LFs in the three redshift bins can be well fit with a luminosity evolution and density evolution model: the turnover luminosity ( $M_{1450}^{*}$) increases, and the turnover density (Φ*) decreases with increasing redshift. 

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4. Constraining Cosmological Parameters Using the Cluster Mass–Richness Relation

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ace773  

   Abdullah, Mohamed H.; Wilson, Gillian; Klypin, Anatoly; Ishiyama, Tomoaki (September 2023, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract The cluster mass–richness relation (MRR) is an observationally efficient and potentially powerful cosmological tool for constraining the matter density Ω_mand the amplitude of fluctuationsσ₈using the cluster abundance technique. We derive the MRR relation usingGalWCat19, a publicly available galaxy cluster catalog we created from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-DR13 spectroscopic data set. In the MRR, cluster mass scales with richness as $\log M_{200}=\alpha +\beta \log N_{200}$. We find that the MRR we derive is consistent with both the IllustrisTNG and mini-Uchuu cosmological numerical simulations, with a slope ofβ≈ 1. We use the MRR we derived to estimate cluster masses from theGalWCat19catalog, which we then use to set constraints on Ω_mandσ₈. Utilizing the all-member MRR, we obtain constraints of Ω_m= ${0.31}_{-0.03}^{+0.04}$andσ₈= ${0.82}_{-0.04}^{+0.05}$, and utilizing the red member MRR only, we obtain Ω_m= ${0.31}_{-0.03}^{+0.04}$andσ₈= ${0.81}_{-0.04}^{+0.05}$. Our constraints on Ω_mandσ₈are consistent and very competitive with the Planck 2018 results. 

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5. Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer Emission Spectroscopy of WASP-33b

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acda91  

   Finnerty, Luke; Schofield, Tobias; Sappey, Ben; Xuan, Jerry W.; Ruffio, Jean-Baptiste; Wang, Jason J.; Delorme, Jacques-Robert; Blake, Geoffrey A.; Buzard, Cam; Fitzgerald, Michael P.; et al (June 2023, The Astronomical Journal)

   Abstract We present Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) high-resolution (R∼35,000)K-band thermal emission spectroscopy of the ultrahot Jupiter WASP-33b. The use of KPIC’s single-mode fibers greatly improves both blaze and line-spread stabilities relative to slit spectrographs, enhancing the cross-correlation detection strength. We retrieve the dayside emission spectrum with a nested-sampling pipeline, which fits for orbital parameters, the atmospheric pressure–temperature profile, and the molecular abundances. We strongly detect the thermally inverted dayside and measure mass-mixing ratios for CO ( ${\mathrm{logCO}}_{\mathrm{MMR}}=-{1.1}_{-0.6}^{+0.4}$), H₂O ( ${\mathrm{logH}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{MMR}}=-{4.1}_{-0.9}^{+0.7}$), and OH ( ${\mathrm{logOH}}_{\mathrm{MMR}}=-{2.1}_{-1.1}^{+0.5}$), suggesting near-complete dayside photodissociation of H₂O. The retrieved abundances suggest a carbon- and possibly metal-enriched atmosphere, with a gas-phase C/O ratio of ${0.8}_{-0.2}^{+0.1}$, consistent with the accretion of high-metallicity gas near the CO₂snow line and post-disk migration or with accretion between the soot and H₂O snow lines. We also find tentative evidence for¹²CO/¹³CO ∼ 50, consistent with values expected in protoplanetary disks, as well as tentative evidence for a metal-enriched atmosphere (2–15 × solar). These observations demonstrate KPIC’s ability to characterize close-in planets and the utility of KPIC’s improved instrumental stability for cross-correlation techniques. 

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