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Title: Departures from standard disc predictions in intensive ground-based monitoring of three AGNs
ABSTRACT We present ground-based multiband light curves of the AGN Mrk 509, NGC 4151, and NGC 4593 obtained contemporaneously with Swift monitoring. We measure cross-correlation lags relative to Swift UVW2 (1928 Å) and test the standard prediction for disc reprocessing, which assumes a geometrically thin optically thick accretion disc where continuum interband delays follow the relation $$\tau (\lambda) \propto \lambda ^{4/3}$$. For Mrk 509 the 273-d Swift campaign gives well-defined lags that increase with wavelength as $$\tau (\lambda)\propto \lambda ^{2.17\pm 0.2}$$, steeper than the thin-disc prediction, and the optical lags are a factor of $$\sim 5$$ longer than expected for a simple disc-reprocessing model. This ‘disc-size discrepancy’ as well as excess lags in the u and r bands (which include the Balmer continuum and H $$\alpha$$, respectively) suggest a mix of short lags from the disc and longer lags from nebular continuum originating in the broad-line region. The shorter Swift campaigns, 69 d on NGC 4151 and 22 d on NGC 4593, yield less well-defined shorter lags $< 2$ d. The NGC 4593 lags are consistent with $$\tau (\lambda) \propto \lambda ^{4/3}$$ but with uncertainties too large for a strong test. For NGC 4151 the Swift lags match $$\tau (\lambda) \propto \lambda ^{4/3}$$, with a small U-band excess, but the ground-based lags in the r, i, and z bands are significantly shorter than the B and g lags, and also shorter than expected from the thin-disc prediction. The interpretation of this unusual lag spectrum is unclear. Overall these results indicate significant diversity in the $$\tau \!-\!\lambda$$ relation across the optical/UV/NIR, which differs from the more homogeneous behaviour seen in the Swift bands.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2407089 2407802
PAR ID:
10688965
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more » ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; « less
Publisher / Repository:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume:
542
Issue:
3
ISSN:
0035-8711
Page Range / eLocation ID:
2572 to 2596
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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