Possible evidence for truncated thin disks in the low-luminosity active galactic nuclei M81 and NGC 4579

Eliot Quataert, Tiziana Di Matteo, Ramesh Narayan, Luis C. Ho

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

119 Scopus citations

Abstract

M81 and NGC 4579 are two of the few low-luminosity active galactic nuclei that have an estimated mass for the central black hole, detected hard X-ray emission, and detected optical/UV emission. In contrast to the canonical "big blue bump," both have optical/UV spectra that decrease with increasing frequency in a vLv plot. Barring significant reddening by dust and/or large errors in the black hole mass estimates, the optical/UV spectra of these systems require that the inner edge of a geometrically thin, optically thick accretion disk lies at ∼100 Schwarzschild radii. The observed X-ray radiation can be explained by an optically thin, two-temperature, advection-dominated accretion flow at smaller radii.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)L89-L92
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume525
Issue number2 PART 2
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 10 1999
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Keywords

  • Accretion, accretion disks
  • Black hole physics
  • Galaxies: individual (M81, NGC 4579)

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