Intermediate inclinations of type 2 Coronal-Line Forest AGN.
Abstract
Coronal-Line Forest Active Galactic Nuclei (CLiF AGN) are remarkable in the sense that they have a rich spectrum of dozens of coronal emission lines (e.g. [Fe VII], [Fe X] and [Ne V]) in their spectra. Rose, Elvis & Tadhunter suggest that the inner obscuring torus wall is the most likely location of the coronal line region in CLiF AGN, and the unusual strength of the forbidden high-ionization lines is due to a specific AGN-torus inclination angle. Here, we test this suggestion using mid-IR colours (4.6-22 μm) from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer for the CLiF AGN. We use the Fischer et al. result that showed that as the AGN-torus inclination becomes more face on, the Spitzer 5.5-30 μm colours become bluer. We show that the [W2-W4] colours for the CLiF AGN (<[W2-W4]> = 5.92 ± 0.12) are intermediate between Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) type 1 (<[W2-W4]> = 5.22 ± 0.01) and type 2 AGN (<[W2-W4]> = 6.35 ± 0.03). This implies that the AGN-torus inclinations for the CLiF AGN are indeed intermediate, supporting the work of Rose, Elvis & Tadhunter. The confirmed relation between CLiF AGN and their viewing angle shows that CLiF AGN may be useful for our understanding of AGN unification.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- July 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnrasl/slv056
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1504.01663
- Bibcode:
- 2015MNRAS.451L..11R
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: active;
- quasars: emission lines;
- quasars: general;
- galaxies: Seyfert;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 5 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, resubmitted to MNRAS after corrections, posted here to support HST proposals