Today: Go over Exam 3 | |
Start Chapter 14, Active Galaxies | |
Chapter 14: Galaxies with Active Nuclei
Discovery of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) | ||
Seyfert Galaxies and Radio Sources | ||
The Unified Model | ||
Black Holes in Galaxies, disks, orientation, + | ||
Quasars | ||
Distances and Relativistic Redshifts | ||
Quasars as extreme AGN | ||
Evolution of Quasars/Galaxies | ||
Gravitational Lensing |
The (slightly) active nucleus of our galaxy
Probable Black hole | ||
High velocities | ||
Large energy generation | ||
At a=275 AU P=2.8 yr Þ 2.7 million solar masses | ||
Radio image of Sgr A* about 3 pc across, with model of surrounding disk |
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A small fraction of galaxies have extremely bright “unresolved” star-like cores (active nuclei) | |
Shown here is an HST image of NGC 7742, a so-called “Seyfert galaxy” after Carl Seyfert who did pioneering work in the 1940s |
NGC4151 with a range of exposures
Spectra of Stars, Spectra of AGNs
Small fraction of galaxies have
extremely bright “unresolved” star-like nuclei |
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Very large energy generation | |||
Brightness often varies quickly | |||
Implies small size (changes not smeared out by light-travel time) | |||
High velocities often seen (> 10,000 km/s in lines) | |||
Emission all over the electro-magnetic spectrum | |||
Jets seen emerging from galaxies |
Many Views of Radio Galaxy Centaurus A
Many galaxies have extremely bright “unresolved” star-like nuclei |
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Very large energy generation | |||
Brightness often varies quickly | |||
Implies small size (changes not smeared out by light-travel time) | |||
High velocities often seen (> 10,000 km/s in lines) | |||
Emission all over the electro-magnetic spectrum | |||
Jets seen emerging from galaxies | |||
More common in colliding galaxies | |||
More common at large distances (redshift): Quasars! | |||
So more common in distant past (look-back time) |
Relativistic Doppler (Red) Shift
Classical Doppler Effect: | |
Also refer to Δλ/λ as the “redshift” or “z” | |
What if z is so large that v => c? | |
v (z + 1)2 - 1 | |
c (z + 1)2 + 1 |
Relativistic Doppler (Red) Shift
Escape velocity from the surface at radius R is | |||
At small enough R we have VEscape= c (speed of light) | |||
That R is by definition the Schwarzschild radius | |||
Far from the black hole gravity is the same as for any ordinary mass M | |||
Stars will just orbit around it like any other mass | |||
Gas orbiting it collides, tries to slow down, (just like reentering satellite) | |||
As gas falls inward it ends up speeding up and heating up | |||
Gas will be moving at close to speed of light by the time it reaches RS | |||
Light emitted by hot gas just outside RS can still escape | |||
Provides a way to release about 10% of E=mc2 of energy | |||
Fusion releases only about 1% | |||
Signature of black hole: Very high energy release, very high velocity | |||
Black hole is “active” only if gas is present to spiral into it | ||
Isolated stars just orbit black hole same as they would any other mass | ||
Gas collides, tries to slow due to friction, and so spirals in (and heats up) | ||
Conservation of angular momentum causes gas to form a disk as it spirals in |
Different Views of the Accretion Disk
The torus of gas and dust can block part of our view | ||
Seyfert 2 galaxies: Edge on view Only gas well above and below disk is visible See only “slow” gas Þ narrow emission lines |
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Seyfert 1 galaxies: Slightly tilted
view Hot high velocity gas close to black hole is visible High velocities Þ broad emission lines |
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BL Lac objects: Pole on view Looking right down the jet at central region Extremely bright – vary on time scales of hours |
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Quasars: Very active AGN at large
distances Can barely make out the galaxy surrounding them Were apparently more common in distant past |
Different Views of the Accretion Disk
The torus of gas and dust can block part of our view | ||
Seyfert 2 galaxies: Edge on view Only gas well above and below disk is visible See only “slow” gas Þ narrow emission lines |
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Seyfert 1 galaxies: Slightly tilted
view Hot high velocity gas close to black hole is visible High velocities Þ broad emission lines |
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BL Lac objects: Pole on view Looking right down the jet at central region Extremely bright – vary on time scales of hours |
||
Quasars: Very active AGN at large
distances Can barely make out the galaxy surrounding them Were apparently more common in distant past |
Different Views of the Accretion Disk
The torus of gas and dust can block part of our view | ||
Seyfert 2 galaxies: Edge on view Only gas well above and below disk is visible See only “slow” gas Þ narrow emission lines |
||
Seyfert 1 galaxies: Slightly tilted
view Hot high velocity gas close to black hole is visible High velocities Þ broad emission lines |
||
BL Lac objects: Pole on view Looking right down the jet at central region Extremely bright – vary on time scales of hours |
||
Quasars: Very active AGN at large
distances Can barely make out the galaxy surrounding them Were more common in distant past |
Quasar Images III: “Starburst-Quasar”
Need a supply of gas to feed to the black hole | ||
(Black holes from 1 million to >1 billion solar masses! | ||
Scales as a few percent of galaxy bulge mass.) | ||
Collisions disturb regular orbits of stars and gas clouds | ||
Could feed more gas to the central region | ||
Galactic orbits were less organized as galaxies were forming, also recall the “hierarchical” galaxy formation | ||
Expect more gas to flow to central region when galaxies are young => Quasars (“quasar epoch” around z=2 to z=3) | ||
Most galaxies may have massive black holes in them | ||
They are just less active now because gas supply is less |
Won’t show this one in class – but you can look at it on your own if you wish. Shows a bulge of a spiral galaxy rapidly “ignite” as a central black hole is fuelled: | |
http://imgsrc.stsci.edu/op/pubinfo/mpeg/quasar.mpg |
The Central Engine of Centaurus A
http://imgsrc.stsci.edu/op/pubinfo/pr/1998/14/content/centauf.mov |
Chapter 14: Galaxies with Active Nuclei
Discovery of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) | ||
Seyfert Galaxies and Radio Sources | ||
The Unified Model | ||
Black Holes in Galaxies, disks, orientation, + | ||
Quasars | ||
Distances and Relativistic Redshifts | ||
Quasars as extreme AGN | ||
Evolution of Quasars/Galaxies | ||
Gravitational Lensing |