The size-luminosity relation of local active galactic nuclei from 
interferometric observations of the broad-line region

Amorim, A.; Bourdarot, G.; Brandner, W.; Cao, Y.; Clenet, Y.; Davies, R.; de Zeeuw, P. T.; Dexter, J.; Drescher, A.; Eckart, A.; Eisenhauer, F.; Fabricius, M.; Feuchtgruber, H.; Foerster Schreiber, N. M.; Garcia, P. J. V.; Genzel, R.; Gillessen, S.; Gratadour, D.; Honig, S.; Kishimoto, M.; Lacour, S.; Lutz, D.; Millour, F.; Netzer, H.; Ott, T.; Paumard, T.; Perraut, K.; Perrin, G.; Peterson, B. M.; Petrucci, P. O.; Pfuhl, O.; Prieto, M. A.; Rabien, S.; Rouan, D.; Santos, D. J. D.; Shangguan, J.; Shimizu, T.; Sternberg, A.; Straubmeier, C.; Sturm, E.; Tacconi, L. J.; Tristram, K. R. W.; Widmann, F.; Woillez, J.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348167

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The size-luminosity relation of local active galactic nuclei from interferometric observations of the broad-line region

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/persons/resource/persons268015

Bourdarot, G.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons284920

Cao, Y.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons208361

Davies, R.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons146381

Dexter, J.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons254980

Drescher, A.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4766

Eisenhauer, F.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4654

Fabricius, M.
Optical and Interpretative Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4923

Foerster Schreiber, N. M.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4590

Genzel, R.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4768

Gillessen, S.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4584

Lutz, D.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons16190

Ott, T.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4786

Rabien, S.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons270133

Santos, D. J. D.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons232571

Shangguan, J.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons206401

Shimizu, T.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4650

Sturm, E.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4582

Tacconi, L. J.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons214431

Widmann, F.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Amorim, A., Bourdarot, G., Brandner, W., Cao, Y., Clenet, Y., Davies, R., et al. (2024). The size-luminosity relation of local active galactic nuclei from interferometric observations of the broad-line region. ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 684: A167. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348167.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0010-03EC-1

Abstract

By using the GRAVITY instrument with the near-infrared (NIR) Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), the structure of the broad (emission-)line region (BLR) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can be spatially resolved, allowing the central black hole (BH) mass to be determined. This work reports new NIR VLTI/GRAVITY interferometric spectra for four type 1 AGNs (Mrk 509, PDS 456, Mrk 1239, and IC 4329A) with resolved broad-line emission. Dynamical modelling of interferometric data constrains the BLR radius and central BH mass measurements for our targets and reveals outflow-dominated BLRs for Mrk 509 and PDS 456. We present an updated radius-luminosity (R-L) relation independent of that derived with reverberation mapping (RM) measurements using all the GRAVITY-observed AGNs. We find our R-L relation to be largely consistent with that derived from RM measurements except at high luminosity, where BLR radii seem to be smaller than predicted. This is consistent with RM-based claims that high Eddington ratio AGNs show consistently smaller BLR sizes. The BH masses of our targets are also consistent with the standard MBH-sigma* relation. Model-independent photocentre fitting shows spatial offsets between the hot dust continuum and the BLR photocentres (ranging from similar to 17 mu as to 140 mu as) that are generally perpendicular to the alignment of the red- and blueshifted BLR photocentres. These offsets are found to be related to the AGN luminosity and could be caused by asymmetric K-band emission of the hot dust, shifting the dust photocentre. We discuss various possible scenarios that can explain this phenomenon.