Revealing Low Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei (ReveaLLAGN)

Author(s)

Anil C. Seth, Torsten Boeker, Leonard Burtscher, Timothy Andrew Davis, Antoine Andre Dumont, Anja Feldmeier-Krause, Juan Antonio Fernandez Ontiveros, Elena Gallo, Jenny Emma Greene, Kayhan Gultekin, Luis C. Ho, Sebastian F. Hoenig, Sebastian Kamann, Allison Kirkpatrick, Nora Luetzgendorf, Sera Markoff, Nadine Neumayer, Eric William Pellegrini, Richard M. Plotkin, Almudena Prieto, Amy E. Reines, Jessie Caye Runnoe, Shobita Satyapal, Jay Strader, Jonathan R. Trump, Karina Voggel, Jonelle L. Walsh, Feng Yuan, Glenn van de Ven

Abstract

JWST will be the most sensitive tool ever built for studying the

accretion onto supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the centers of

galaxies. While quasars and bright active galactic nuclei (AGN) provide

spectacular examples of this accretion, a vast majority of galaxies have

black holes accreting at much lower rates. Although these low

luminosity AGN (LLAGN) are not as well studied or understood as their

brighter counterparts, it is clear their inner structures differ

significantly from the accretion disks in luminous AGN. JWST

spectroscopy provides a unique opportunity to significantly advance our

understanding of LLAGN. Our proposal focuses on getting IFU spectra

from 1.7 to 28 microns for seven of the nearest LLAGN spanning four

orders of magnitude in both black hole mass and accretion rate (these

will also be complemented by two GTO targets). JWST's spatial

resolution will enable easy separation of the AGN from the host galaxy

light providing us with spectral templates of low luminosity AGN spectra

in the infrared for the first time. Detailed physical modeling of both

the line emission and spectral energy distributions of these LLAGN

spectra will reveal the physical structure of low luminosity AGN, and

how it varies with the mass and accretion rate of the SMBH. We will

also use these spectral templates to empirically determine the most

sensitive lines and SED features for spectroscopically and

photometrically identifying LLAGN in more distant galaxies where the AGN

won't be spatially resolved. ReveaLLAGN will both significantly enhance

our understanding of AGN and open a new window for future AGN studies

with JWST.

Organisation(s)

Department of Astrophysics

External organisation(s)

University of Utah, European Space Agency (ESA), Baltimore, Leiden University, Cardiff University, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali , Central Michigan University, Princeton University, University of Michigan, Peking University, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), University of Kansas, Protestant Theological University, Scientific Software Center, University of Nevada, Reno, Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, Montana State University, Bozeman, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, George Mason University, Michigan State University, University of Connecticut, Université de Strasbourg, University of Texas, Brownsville, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences (CAFS)

Publication date

03-2021

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103003 Astronomy, 103004 Astrophysics

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/b4ce7433-f211-45f4-b088-667a6a73404b