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UV–Optical Disk Reverberation Lags despite a Faint X-Ray Corona in the Active Galactic Nucleus Mrk 335

UV–Optical Disk Reverberation Lags despite a Faint X-Ray Corona in the Active Galactic Nucleus Mrk 335
UV–Optical Disk Reverberation Lags despite a Faint X-Ray Corona in the Active Galactic Nucleus Mrk 335
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.
0004-637X
Kara, Erin
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Barth, Aaron J.
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Cackett, Edward M.
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Gelbord, Jonathan
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Montano, John
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Santana, Lisabeth
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Horne, Keith
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Alston, William N.
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Buisson, Douglas
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Chelouche, Doron
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Du, Pu
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Fian, Carina
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Loewenstein, Michael
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Masterson, Megan
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McHardy, Ian
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Mehdipour, Missagh
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Miller, Jake
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Panagiotou, Christos
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Parker, Michael L.
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Pinto, Ciro
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Remillard, Ron
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Reynolds, Christopher
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Rogantini, Daniele
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Wang, Jingyi
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Wilkins, Dan
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Kara, Erin
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Barth, Aaron J.
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Cackett, Edward M.
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Gelbord, Jonathan
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Li, Yan-Rong
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Santana, Lisabeth
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Horne, Keith
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Alston, William N.
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Buisson, Douglas
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Chelouche, Doron
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Du, Pu
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Fabian, Andrew C.
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Fian, Carina
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Hernandez Santisteban, Juan V.
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Kaspi, Shai
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Hu, Chen
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Komossa, S.
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Kriss, Gerard A.
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Lewin, Collin
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Lewis, Tiffany
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Loewenstein, Michael
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Lohfink, Anne
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Masterson, Megan
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McHardy, Ian
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Mehdipour, Missagh
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Miller, Jake
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Panagiotou, Christos
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Parker, Michael L.
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Pinto, Ciro
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Remillard, Ron
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Reynolds, Christopher
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Rogantini, Daniele
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Wang, Jian Min
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Wang, Jingyi
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Wilkins, Dan
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Kara, Erin, Barth, Aaron J., Cackett, Edward M., Gelbord, Jonathan, Montano, John, Li, Yan-Rong, Santana, Lisabeth, Horne, Keith, Alston, William N., Buisson, Douglas, Chelouche, Doron, Du, Pu, Fabian, Andrew C., Fian, Carina, Gallo, Luigi, Goad, Michael R., Grupe, Dirk, González Buitrago, Diego H., Hernandez Santisteban, Juan V., Kaspi, Shai, Hu, Chen, Komossa, S., Kriss, Gerard A., Lewin, Collin, Lewis, Tiffany, Loewenstein, Michael, Lohfink, Anne, Masterson, Megan, McHardy, Ian, Mehdipour, Missagh, Miller, Jake, Panagiotou, Christos, Parker, Michael L., Pinto, Ciro, Remillard, Ron, Reynolds, Christopher, Rogantini, Daniele, Wang, Jian Min, Wang, Jingyi and Wilkins, Dan (2023) UV–Optical Disk Reverberation Lags despite a Faint X-Ray Corona in the Active Galactic Nucleus Mrk 335. The Astrophysical Journal, 947 (2), [62]. (doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acbcd3).

Record type: Article

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.

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Accepted/In Press date: 14 February 2023
Published date: 1 April 2023
Additional Information: Funding Information: Some of the data used in this paper were acquired with the RATIR instrument, funded by the University of California and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the 1.5 m Harold L. Johnson telescope at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional on the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, operated and maintained by the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional and the Instituto de Astronomía of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Operations are partially funded by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (DGAPA/PAPIIT IG100414, IT102715, AG100317, IN109418, IG100820, and IN105921). We acknowledge the contribution of Leonid Georgiev and Neil Gehrels to the development of RATIR. Funding Information: E.K. acknowledges support from NASA grants 80NSSC20K0470 and 80NSSC20K0372, and is supported by the Sagol Weizmann-MIT Bridge Program. Research at the University of California Irvine was supported by NSF grant AST-1907290. E.M.C. gratefully acknowledges support from the NSF through grant AST-1909199. Y.R.L. acknowledges financial support from the NSFC through grant Nos. 11922304 and 12273041 and from the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS. P.D. acknowledges support from NSFC grants 12022301 and 11991051. C.H. acknowledges support from from NSFC grants 12122305 and 11991054. C.S.R. thanks the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) for support under the consolidated grant ST/S000623/1, as well as the European Research Council (ERC) for support under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant 834203). T.L. acknowledges support from the Zuckerman Postdoctoral Scholarship Program and by an appointment to the NASA Postdoctoral Program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities under contract with NASA. Funding Information: This work makes use of observations from the Las Cumbres Observatory global telescope network. The Liverpool Telescope is operated on the island of La Palma by Liverpool John Moores University in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias with financial support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. Publisher Copyright: © 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.

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Local EPrints ID: 477461
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/477461
ISSN: 0004-637X
PURE UUID: 7fc87ea3-0e25-439d-912e-d6354c14c0d3

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Date deposited: 06 Jun 2023 17:09
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:41

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Contributors

Author: Erin Kara
Author: Aaron J. Barth
Author: Edward M. Cackett
Author: Jonathan Gelbord
Author: John Montano
Author: Yan-Rong Li
Author: Lisabeth Santana
Author: Keith Horne
Author: William N. Alston
Author: Douglas Buisson
Author: Doron Chelouche
Author: Pu Du
Author: Andrew C. Fabian
Author: Carina Fian
Author: Luigi Gallo
Author: Michael R. Goad
Author: Dirk Grupe
Author: Diego H. González Buitrago
Author: Juan V. Hernandez Santisteban
Author: Shai Kaspi
Author: Chen Hu
Author: S. Komossa
Author: Gerard A. Kriss
Author: Collin Lewin
Author: Tiffany Lewis
Author: Michael Loewenstein
Author: Anne Lohfink
Author: Megan Masterson
Author: Ian McHardy
Author: Missagh Mehdipour
Author: Jake Miller
Author: Christos Panagiotou
Author: Michael L. Parker
Author: Ciro Pinto
Author: Ron Remillard
Author: Christopher Reynolds
Author: Daniele Rogantini
Author: Jian Min Wang
Author: Jingyi Wang
Author: Dan Wilkins

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