Interpreting broad emission-line variations I : Factors influencing the emission-line response

We investigate the sensitivity of the measured broad emission-line responsivity dlog f_line/dlog f_cont to continuum variations in the context of straw-man BLR geometries of varying size with fixed BLR boundaries, and for which the intrinsic emission-line responsivity is known a priori. We find for a generic emission-line that the measured responsivity, delay and maximum of the cross-correlation function are correlated for characteristic continuum variability timescales T_char less than the maximum delay for that line tau_max(line) for a particular choice of BLR geometry and observer orientation. The above correlations are manifestations of geometric dilution arising from reverberation effects within the spatially extended BLR. When present, geometric dilution reduces the measured responsivity, delay and maximum of the cross-correlation function. We also find that the measured responsivity and delay show a strong dependence on light-curve duration, with shorter campaigns resulting in smaller than expected values, and only a weak dependence on sampling rate. The observed strong negative correlation between continuum level and line responsivity found in previous studies cannot be explained by differences in the sampling pattern, light-curve duration or in terms of purely geometrical effects. To explain this and to satisfy the observed positive correlation between continuum luminosity and BLR size in an individual source, the responsivity-weighted radius must increase with increasing continuum luminosity. For a BLR with fixed inner and outer boundaries this requires radial surface emissivity distributions which deviate significantly from a simple power-law, and in such a way that the intrinsic emission-line responsivity increases toward larger BLR radii, in line with photoionisation calculations.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS July 201

The broad emission-line region: the confluence of the outer accretion disc with the inner edge of the dusty torus

(Abridged) We investigate the observational characteristics of BLR geometries in which the BLR clouds bridge the gap, both in distance and scale height, between the outer accretion disc and the hot dust, forming an effective surface of a "bowl". The gas dynamics are dominated by gravity, and we include the effects of transverse Doppler shift, gravitational redshift and scale-height dependent macro-turbulence. Our simple model reproduces many of the phenomena observed in broad emission-line variability studies, including (i) the absence of response in the core of the optical recombination lines on short timescales, (ii) the enhanced red-wing response on short timescales, (iii) differences between the measured delays for the HILs and LILs, and (iv) identifies turbulence as a means of producing Lorentzian profiles (esp. for LILs) in low inclination systems, and for suppressing significant continuum--emission-line delays between the line wings and line core (esp. in LILs). A key motivation of this work was to reveal the physical underpinnings of the reported measurements of SMBH masses and their uncertainties. We find that SMBH masses derived from measurements of the fwhm of the mean and rms profiles show the closest correspondence between the emission lines in a single object, even though the emission line fwhm is a more biased mass indicator with respect to inclination. The predicted large discrepancies in the SMBH mass estimates between emission lines at low inclination, as derived using the line dispersion, we suggest may be used as a means of identifying near face-on systems. Our general results do not depend on specific choices in the simplifying assumptions, but are in fact generic properties of BLR geometries with axial symmetry that span a substantial range in radially-increasing scale height supported by turbulence, which then merge into the inner dusty TOR.Comment: 29 pages, 23 figures and 1 tabl

GEODYN system description, volume 1

A computer program for the estimation of orbit and geodetic parameters is presented. The areas in which the program is operational are defined. The specific uses of the program are given as: (1) determination of definitive orbits, (2) tracking instrument calibration, (3) satellite operational predictions, and (4) geodetic parameter estimation. The relationship between the various elements in the solution of the orbit and geodetic parameter estimation problem is analyzed. The solution of the problems corresponds to the orbit generation mode in the first case and to the data reduction mode in the second case

Analysis of UV protection requirements and testing of candidate attenuators for the Haloe optical instrument

Results of calculations are presented which simulate photolytic processes occurring in HALOE gas calibration cells exposed to extra-terrestrial solar ultraviolet photons. These calculations indicate that significant photolysis takes place in two of the sapphire-enclosed cells over the exposure periods of the proposed mission. A subsequent laboratory investigation is also described in which a high-voltage discharge hydrogen light source is used in conjunction with a vacuum ultraviolet spectrograph. The UV emission from this lamp was used to expose two candidate UV attenuators (ZnSe and coated Ge) to ascertain their suitability as UV filters while maintaining original infrared optical properties. Both materials were found to be effectively opaque to vacuum UV radiaton and suffered no adverse effects regarding their infrared transmissivity

Investigation of the enhanced spatial density of submicron lunar ejecta between L values 1.2 and 3.0 in the earth's magnetosphere: Theory

Initial results from the measurement conducted by the dust particle experiment on the lunar orbiting satellite Lunar Explorer 35 (LE 35) were reported with the data interpreted as indicating that the moon is a significant source of micrometeroids. Primary sporadic and stream meteoroids impacting the surface of the moon at hypervelocity was proposed as the source of micron and submicron particles that leave the lunar craters with velocities sufficient to escape the moon's gravitational sphere of influence. No enhanced flux of lunar ejecta with masses greater than a nanogram was detected by LE 35 or the Lunar Orbiters. Hypervelocity meteoroid simulation experiments concentrating on ejecta production combined with extensive analyses of the orbital dynamics of micron and submicron lunar ejecta in selenocentric, cislunar, and geocentric space have shown that a pulse of these lunar ejecta, with a time correlation relative to the position of the moon relative to the earth, intercepts the earth's magnetopause surface (EMPs). As shown, a strong reason exists for expecting a significant enhancement of submicron dust particles in the region of the magnetosphere between L values of 1.2 and 3.0. This is the basis for the proposal of a series of experiments to investigate the enhancement or even trapping of submicron lunar ejecta in this region. The subsequent interaction of this mass with the upper-lower atmosphere of the earth and possible geophysical effects can then be studied

Removal of spacecraft-surface particulate contaminants by simulated micrometeoroid impacts

A series of hypervelocity impacts has been conducted in an exploding lithium-wire accelerator to examine with a far-field holographic system the removal of particulate contaminants from external spacecraft surfaces subjected to micrometeoroid bombardment. The impacting projectiles used to simulate the micrometeoroids were glass spheres nominally 37 microns in diameter, having velocities between 4 and 17 km/sec. The particulates were glass spheres nominally 25, 50, and 75 microns in diameter which were placed on aluminum targets. For these test, particulates detached had velocities that were log-normally distributed. The significance of the log-normal behavior of the ejected-particulate velocity distribution is that the geometric mean velocity and the geometric standard deviation are the only two parameters needed to model completely the process of particles removed or ejected from a spacecraft surface by a micrometeoroid impact

New insights into ultraluminous X-ray sources from deep XMM-Newton observations

The controversy over whether ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) contain a new intermediate-mass class of black holes (IMBHs) remains unresolved. We present new analyses of the deepest XMM-Newton observations of ULXs that address their underlying nature. We examine both empirical and physical modelling of the X-ray spectra of a sample of thirteen of the highest quality ULX datasets, and find that there are anomalies in modelling ULXs as accreting IMBHs with properties simply scaled-up from Galactic black holes. Most notably, spectral curvature above 2 keV in several sources implies the presence of an optically-thick, cool corona. We also present a new analysis of a 100 ks observation of Holmberg II X-1, in which a rigorous analysis of the temporal data limits the mass of its black hole to no more than 100 solar masses. We argue that a combination of these results points towards many (though not necessarily all) ULXs containing black holes that are at most a few 10s of solar mass in size.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "The X-ray Universe 2005", San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Spain), 26-30 September 200

Detection limits for close eclipsing and transiting sub-stellar and planetary companions to white dwarfs in the WASP survey

We used photometric data from the WASP (Wide-Angle Search for Planets) survey to explore the possibility of detecting eclipses and transit signals of brown dwarfs, gas giants and terrestrial companions in close orbit around white dwarfs. We performed extensive Monte Carlo simulations and we found that for Gaussian random noise WASP is sensitive to companions as small as the Moon orbiting a $V\sim$12 white dwarf. For fainter stars WASP is sensitive to increasingly larger bodies. Our sensitivity drops in the presence of co-variant noise structure in the data, nevertheless Earth-size bodies remain readily detectable in relatively low S/N data. We searched for eclipses and transit signals in a sample of 194 white dwarfs in the WASP archive however, no evidence for companions was found. We used our results to place tentative upper limits to the frequency of such systems. While we can only place weak limits on the likely frequency of Earth-sized or smaller companions; brown dwarfs and gas giants (radius$\simeq$ R$_{jup}$) with periods $\leq$0.2 days must certainly be rare ($<10\%$). More stringent constraints requires significantly larger white dwarf samples, higher observing cadence and continuous coverage. The short duration of eclipses and transits of white dwarfs compared to the cadence of WASP observations appears to be one of the main factors limiting the detection rate in a survey optimised for planetary transits of main sequence stars.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

A complete sample of Seyfert galaxies selected at 1/4 keV

We have used the ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue to extract a complete sample of sources selected in the band from 0.1-0.4 keV. This 1/4 keV-selected sample is comprised of 54 Seyfert galaxies, 25 BL Lacertae objects, 4 clusters and 27 Galactic stars or binaries. Seyfert-type galaxies with ``ultrasoft'' X-ray spectra can very often be classed optically as Narrow-line Seyfert 1s (NLS1s). Such objects are readily detected in 1/4 keV surveys; the sample reported here contains 20 NLS1s, corresponding to a 40% fraction of the Seyferts. Optical spectra of the Seyfert galaxies were gathered for correlative analysis, which confirmed the well-known relations between X-ray slope and optical spectral properties (e.g., [O III]/H-beta ratio; Fe II strength, H-beta width). The various intercorrelations are most likely driven, fundamentally, by the shape of the photoionising continuum in Seyfert nuclei. We argue that a steep X-ray spectrum is a better indicator of an ``extreme'' set of physical properties in Seyfert galaxies than is the narrowness of the optical H-beta line. (Abridged)Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA