KPNO 2.1-m GoldCam - AGN & Voorwerpje Spectra
WHAT IS THIS PAGE?
This is a gallery of AGN/voorwerpje spectra (scroll to bottom of page for non-AGN spectra) recorded at the Kitt Peak 2-m telescope by Dr. Keel, Stuart Lynn, and myself last June, 2010. Over the course of seven nights, we observed a wide variety of AGN phenomena including broad-line Seyfert 1's, narrow-line Seyfert 2's, and everything in between. Of the 30 or so galaxies targeted, we confirmed voorwerpje action around 15. Hit or miss, however, we were guaranteed to amass quite a collection of interesting data - hence this page. Enjoy!
BASIC DEFINITIONS:
* AGN: active galactic nucleus/nuclei.
* Voorwerpje: an AGN-ionized gas cloud extending or located more than 10,000 parsecs from the responsible nucleus.
* Forbidden lines: emission lines with [brackets] around the label; can only be made in extremely low-density gases; forbidden only in our laboratories on Earth.
* Permitted lines: lines like Hβ and HeII with no bracket around the label; can be made in the high-density vicinity of an actively feeding supermassive black hole.
* High-ionization lines: lines like [Ne V] and HeII which imply an energy source other than starlight.
* Seyfert 1: spectra with broad permitted lines and narrow forbidden lines; high-ionization lines often present (this last part applies to all Seyfert types).
* Seyfert 2: spectra with narrow permitted and forbidden lines (though still broader than lines in starburst spectra)
* Seyfert 1.2: spectra with very weak broad components of permitted lines.
* Seyfert 1.5: spectra where permitted lines have easily discernible broad and narrow components.
* Seyfert 1.9: spectra with broad component at Hα but not at Hβ (Mrk 1498 is our only example).
* QSO: quasi-stellar object; appear star-like in images, but certainly not in spectra.
INFO:
* The spectra are sorted by gaussian FWHM of Hβ, i.e. generally starting with Seyfert 1's and ending with voorwerpjes.
* SDSS tiles show the position of the 2" (width) slit as well as the area corresponding to the displayed spectrum.
* Smaller tiles at right are snapshots of the actual long-slit data, showing from left-right, Hβ-[O III]λ4959-[O III]λ5007 (where extended emission is most obvious).
* Higher ionization lines (typically nambiguous indicators of AGN activity) are labeled in purple; other prominent lines are labeled in blue.
* Voorwerpjes and voorwerpje hosts are indicated by green text.
* Displayed redshifts are measured directly from the displayed spectra.
* Click the SDSS tiles for links to objects' SDSS pages.
* Scroll through the spectra or click a link in this table.
AGN/VOORWERPJE SPECTRA (z < 0.12):
SDSS 1519+10: very broad + narrow Hβ = Seyfert 1.5 back to top
Mrk 739: I separated out a narrow component of Hβ, but this still looks more like a pure Seyfert 1. Also a voorwerpje host. back to top
Mrk 1514: not targeted by SDSS, so I'm showing the nice HST shot. back to top
Mrk 69: another Seyfert 1.5. back to top
Mrk 840: I would've guessed starburst from the image (see SDSS spectrum for explanation of NLSy1 class - this one is prototypical). back to top
Mrk 463: two AGN and voorwerpjes! back to top
UGC 11185: extragalactic train wrecks seem to be especially good at producing voorwerpjes (i.e. exposing cold gas to hard radiation). back to top
Teacup: someone needs to make sure NED adopts the 'Teacup' cross-ID. back to top
KUG 1350: looks like a NLSy1 in the SDSS spectrum and more like a Sy1.2 in ours... we may have slightly missed the nucleus. back to top
IC 3929: too bad 'Tadpole Galaxy' is already taken. back to top
Was 49b: my favorite of the 'misses,' the pink/purple blob appears to be an oddly situated Seyfert 2 nucleus. back to top
NGC 5252n: a confirmed voorwerpje host. back to top
SDSS 1111-00: another misplaced Seyfert nucleus (similar to Was49b)? back to top
Was 49a: this is the fainter of the two nuclei. back to top
NGC 4388: one of the nearer galaxies in the sample and a voorwerpje host. back to top
Mrk 1498: this one turns out to have broad Hα (not shown). Also a voorwerpje host. back to top
Mrk 273: another case of a disrupted/merging voorwerpje host. back to top
Mrk 883: maybe we should have gone with a PA of 175 or so? Either way, this is another voorwerpje host. back to top
Mrk 266n: a spectacular double AGN and voorwerpje host (spectrum from the blue stuff is show further down the page). back to top
SDSS 1510+07: this one has twin voorwerpjes. back to top
SDSS 1425+14a: another probable case of multiple AGN. back to top
SDSS 1425+14b: here's the other one (we may just be seeing HeII emission leaking from the above spectrum into an otherwise starburst spectrum). back to top
UGC 7342n: the next best thing to IC 2497. back to top
UGC 7342c1: Here's the first example of a voorwerpje spectrum. The lack of continuum light (i.e. you just see narrow emission lines popping up from zero intensity) means that the contribution from starlight is either very weak or nonexistent. In other words, all we see in this spectrum is light emitted from gas which has been illuminated by the nucleus. The nucleus, by the way, apparently did this from a distance of 16,800 parsecs or 54,768 light years or 518,397,600,000,000,000 kilometers. That's far. back to top
NGC 5972c1: as in the case of UGC 7342, this is exactly what we were looking for. back to top
IC 2637: a voorwerpje host with a dark dust lane. back to top
NGC 5972c2: another NGC 5972 voorwerpje. back to top
SDSS 1535+22: high-ionization lines are weak, but present. back to top
NGC 5972c3: plenty of ionized gas in NGC 5972. back to top
SDSS 1510+07c1: voorwerpje north of SDSS 1510+07. back to top
NGC 5972n: rather narrow Hβ around NGC 5972's nucleus seems to imply significant obscuration. back to top
Mrk 266c1: our sampling of Mrk 266's neon-blue filaments. back to top
SDSS 2109-06: very weak HeII and [NeV] may have been rubbed out by smoothing, but line ratios still say AGN. back to top
NGC 5252c: a voorwerpje in NGC 5252. back to top
SDSS 2201+11c1: this is the lower voorwerpje in the 2D snapshot... back to top
SDSS 2201+11c2: ... and this is the other. back to top
UGC 7342c2: another voorwerpje from UGC 7342. back to top
SDSS 1510+07c2: voorwerpje south of SDSS 1510+07. back to top
CGCG 077-117: a voorwerpje to the southeast. back to top
Other spectra:
Neptune: five or so more seconds and I think we may have damaged the CCD. Unfortunately the spectrum for Triton just looks like fainter Neptune. back to top
H1700+6416: This very bright QSO was suggested by ccld... back to top
Bowtie: ... as was this starburst galaxy. back to top
SS 433: here's a spectrum from an exotic binary system in our own galaxy (I did not attempt to identify shifted lines) back to top
IC 812: one of the true 'misses,' where all parts of the 2D spectrum indicate star formation rather than AGN. Compare this to the SS433 A-star spectrum. back to top
Mrk 298a: really disappointing in the context of searching for voorwerpjes and faded/heavily-obscured AGN, but otherwise pretty darn interesting. back to top
Mrk 298b: here's what the blue stuff looks likes. back to top
Mrk 490: intensely star-forming blue compact galaxy. back to top
Coming soon - Lick AGN spectra gallery!