The spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are often characterized by a wealth of emission lines with different profiles and intensity ratios that led to a complicated classification. Their electro-magnetic radiation spans more than 10 orders of magnitude in frequency. In spite of the differences between various classes, the origin of their activity is attributed to a combination of emitting components, surrounding an accreting Super Massive Black Hole, in the so called Unified Model. Currently, the execution of sky surveys, with instruments operating at various frequencies, provides the possibility to detect and to investigate the properties of AGNs on very large statistical samples. Thanks to the spectroscopic surveys that allow investigation of many objects, we have the opportunity to place new constraints on the nature and evolution of AGNs. In this contribution we present the results obtained by working on multi-frequency data and we discuss their relations with the available optical spectra. We compare our findings with the AGN Unified Model predictions, and we present a revised technique to select AGNs of different types from other line emitting objects. We discuss the multi-frequency properties in terms of the innermost structures of the sources.
Models of Emission-Line Profiles and Spectral Energy Distributions to Characterize the Multi-Frequency Properties of Active Galactic Nuclei
La Mura, Giovanni;Berton, Marco;Chen, Sina;Ciroi, Stefano;Congiu, Enrico;Cracco, Valentina;Frezzato, Michele;Rafanelli, Piero
2017
Abstract
The spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are often characterized by a wealth of emission lines with different profiles and intensity ratios that led to a complicated classification. Their electro-magnetic radiation spans more than 10 orders of magnitude in frequency. In spite of the differences between various classes, the origin of their activity is attributed to a combination of emitting components, surrounding an accreting Super Massive Black Hole, in the so called Unified Model. Currently, the execution of sky surveys, with instruments operating at various frequencies, provides the possibility to detect and to investigate the properties of AGNs on very large statistical samples. Thanks to the spectroscopic surveys that allow investigation of many objects, we have the opportunity to place new constraints on the nature and evolution of AGNs. In this contribution we present the results obtained by working on multi-frequency data and we discuss their relations with the available optical spectra. We compare our findings with the AGN Unified Model predictions, and we present a revised technique to select AGNs of different types from other line emitting objects. We discuss the multi-frequency properties in terms of the innermost structures of the sources.Pubblicazioni consigliate
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.