Black hole masses of the NLSy1 galaxies measured in our survey range from similar to that of the Milky Way’s nuclear black hole (4 million solar masses), to nearly a hundred times that. The Paschen-alpha line widths range from 110 to 2700 km/sec. The emission mechanism is recombination rather than shocks. Obscuration by dust is relatively light.
Besides characterising the local z < 0.5 NLSy1 population, follow-up work is being planned to zero in on the circumnuclear environment with the VLT’s adaptive optics integral field unit instrumentation including SINFONI, MUSE, and soon ERIS. In previous work on AGN, complex nuclear structure, ionization cones emanating from hidden nuclei, inner star-forming rings and spiraling central dust lanes have been found. These are predicted by the Unified Model of AGN, as radiation and material outflow from the accretion disk is collimated by the surrounding dusty torus to impinge on the ISM, exciting the gas by photoionization and shocks.
The survey is ongoing with one half of the sky complete. Along the way we’ve also made some surprising discoveries, including an AGB star with a thick circumstellar shell.
Besides characterising the local z < 0.5 NLSy1 population, follow-up work is being planned to zero in on the circumnuclear environment with the VLT’s adaptive optics integral field unit instrumentation including SINFONI, MUSE, and soon ERIS. In previous work on AGN, complex nuclear structure, ionization cones emanating from hidden nuclei, inner star-forming rings and spiraling central dust lanes have been found. These are predicted by the Unified Model of AGN, as radiation and material outflow from the accretion disk is collimated by the surrounding dusty torus to impinge on the ISM, exciting the gas by photoionization and shocks.
The survey is ongoing with one half of the sky complete. Along the way we’ve also made some surprising discoveries, including an AGB star with a thick circumstellar shell.