Balmer Wing Formation in Active Galactic Nuclei

  • Chang, Seok-Jun (Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sejong University) ;
  • Lee, Hee-Won (Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sejong University)
  • Published : 2015.04.10

Abstract

Powered by a supermassive black hole, active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are characterized by prominent emission lines including Blamer lines. The unification scheme of AGNs requires the existence of a thick molecular torus that may hide the broad emission line region. In this configuration, it is expected that the far UV radiation from the central engine can be Raman scattered by neutral hydrogen to reappear around Balmer lines which can be identified observationally with broad Balmer wings. Another mechanism that can form Balmer wings is considered by invoking a fast moving medium around the central engine. In this presentation, we produce Balmer wings that are formed through Raman scattering and also those expected from a fast moving emission flow. It is noted that Raman Balmer wings exhibit stronger red part whereas the opposite behavior is seen in the Balmer wings obtained from a fast moving emission flow.

Keywords