Bibcode
DOI
Edelson, R. A.; Alexander, T.; Crenshaw, D. M.; Kaspi, S.; Malkan, M. A.; Peterson, B. M.; Warwick, R. S.; Clavel, J.; Filippenko, A. V.; Horne, K.; Korista, K. T.; Kriss, G. A.; Krolik, J. H.; Maoz, D.; Nandra, K.; O'Brien, P. T.; Penton, S. V.; Yaqoob, T.; Albrecht, P.; Alloin, D.; Ayres, T. R.; Balonek, T. J.; Barr, P.; Barth, A. J.; Bertram, R.; Bromage, G. E.; Carini, M.; Carone, T. E.; Cheng, F.-Z.; Chuvaev, K. K.; Dietrich, M.; Dultzin-Hacyan, D.; Gaskell, C. M.; Glass, I. S.; Goad, M. R.; Hemar, S.; Ho, L. C.; Huchra, J. P.; Hutchings, J.; Johnson, W. N.; Kazanas, D.; Kollatschny, W.; Koratkar, A. P.; Kovo, O.; Laor, A.; MacAlpine, G. M.; Magdziarz, P.; Martin, P. G.; Matheson, T.; McCollum, B.; Miller, H. R.; Morris, S. L.; Oknyanskij, V. L.; Penfold, J.; Perez, E.; Perola, G. C.; Pike, G.; Pogge, R. W.; Ptak, R. L.; Qian, B.-C.; Recondo-Gonzalez, M. C.; Reichert, G. A.; Rodriguez-Espinoza, J. M.; Rodriguez-Pascual, P. M.; Rokaki, E. L.; Roland, J.; Sadun, A. C.; Salamanca, I.; Santos-Lleo, M.; Shields, J. C.; Shull, J. M.; Smith, D. A.; Smith, S. M.; Snijders, M. A. J.; Stirpe, G. M.; Stoner, R. E.; Sun, W.-H.; Ulrich, M.-H.; van Groningen, E.; Wagner, R. M.; Wagner, S.; Wanders, I.; Welsh, W. F.; Weymann, R. J.; Wilkes, B. J.; Wu, H.; Wurster, J.; Xue, S.-J.; Zdziarski, A. A.; Zheng, W.; Zou, Z.-L.
Bibliographical reference
Astrophysical Journal v.470, p.364
Advertised on:
10
1996
Citations
188
Refereed citations
156
Description
This paper combines data from the three preceding papers in order to
analyze the multi-wave-band variability and spectral energy distribution
of the Seyfert I galaxy NGC 4151 during the 1993 December monitoring
campaign. The source, which was near its peak historical brightness,
showed strong, correlated variability at X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical
wavelengths; The strongest variatIons were seen in medium-energy (~1.5
keV) X-rays, with a normalized variability amplitude (NVA) of 24%.
Weaker (NVA = 6%) variations (uncorrelated with those at lower energies)
were seen at soft gamma ray energies of ~100 keV. No significant
variability was seen in softer (0.1-1 keV) X-ray bands. In the
ultraviolet/optical regime the NVA decreased from 9% to 1% as the
wavelength increased from 1275 to 6900 A. These data do not probe
extreme ultraviolet (1200 A to 0.1 keV) or hard X ray (2-50 keV)
variability. The phase differences between variations in different bands
were consistent with zero lag, with upper limits of <~ 0.15 day
between 1275 A and the other ultraviolet bands, <~0.3 day between
1275 A and 1.5 keV, and <~1 day between 1275 and 512 A. These tight
limits represent more than an order of magnitude improvement over those
determined in previous multi wave band AGN monitoring campaigns. The
ultraviolet fluctuation power spectra showed no evidence for
periodicity, but were instead well fitted with a very steep, red power
law (a <= -2.5). If photons emitted at a "primary" wave band are
absorbed by nearby material and "reprocessed" to produce emission at a
secondary wave band, causality arguments require that variations in the
secondary band follow those in the primary band. The tight interband
correlation and limits on the ultraviolet and medium-energy X-ray lags
indicate that the reprocessing region is smaller than ~0.15 lt-day in
size. After correcting for strong (a factor of ~> 15) line-of-sight
absorption, the medium-energy X-ray luminosity variations appear
adequate to drive the ultraviolet/optical variations. However the
medium-energy X-ray NVA is 2- 4 times that in the ultraviolet, and the
single-epoch absorption- corrected X-ray/gamma ray luminosity is only
about one third of that of the ultraviolet optical/infrared, suggesting
that at most about a third of the total low energy flux could be
reprocessed high-energy emission. The strong wavelength dependence of
the ultraviolet NVAs is consistent with an origin in an accretion disk,
with the variable emission coming from the hotter inner regions and
nonvariable emission from the cooler outer regions. These data, when
combined with the results of disk fits indicate a boundary between these
regions near a radius of order R ~ 0.07 lt-day. No interband lag would
be expected, as reprocessing (and thus propagation between regions) need
not occur, and the orbital timescale of 1 day is consistent with the
observed variability timescale. However, such a model does not
immediately explain the good correlation between ultraviolet and X-ray
variations.