The DOI matches its Crossref record; 2 of the 2 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Active galactic nuclei flicker: an observational estimate of the duration of black hole growth phases of ∼105yr
Abstract
We present an observational constraint for the typical active galactic nucleus (AGN) phase lifetime. The argument is based on the time lag between an AGN central engine switching on and becoming visible in X-rays, and the time the AGN then requires to photoionize a large fraction of the host galaxy. Based on the typical light travel time across massive galaxies, and the observed fraction of X-ray-selected AGN without AGN-photoionized narrow lines, we estimate that the AGN phase typically lasts ∼105 yr. This lifetime is short compared to the total growth time of 107–109 yr estimated from e.g. the Soltan argument and implies that black holes grow via many such short bursts and that AGN therefore ‘flicker’ on and off. We discuss some consequences of this flickering behaviour for AGN feedback and the analogy of X-ray binaries and AGN lifecycles.
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THE SEVENTH DATA RELEASE OF THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY
Abazajian, K. N., Adelman-McCarthy, J. K., Agüeros, M. A., Allam, S. S., Prieto, C. A., An, D., Anderson, K. S. J., Anderson, S. F., Annis, J., Bahcall, N. A., et al. (2009) · The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · doi:10.1088/0067-0049/182/2/543 · Cited by 5,341
FOSSIL IMPRINT OF A POWERFUL FLARE AT THE GALACTIC CENTER ALONG THE MAGELLANIC STREAM
Bland-Hawthorn, J., Maloney, P. R., Sutherland, R. S., & Madsen, G. J. (2013) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/778/1/58 · Cited by 89
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BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey. V. X-Ray Properties of the Swift/BAT 70-month AGN Catalog
Ricci, C., Trakhtenbrot, B., Koss, M. J., Ueda, Y., Del Vecchio, I., Treister, E., Schawinski, K., Paltani, S., Oh, K., Lamperti, I., et al. (2017) · The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aa96ad · Cited by 552
Self-citationCool outflows in galaxies and their implications
Veilleux, S., Maiolino, R., Bolatto, A. D., & Aalto, S. (2020) · The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review · doi:10.1007/s00159-019-0121-9 · Cited by 466
Nuclear obscuration in active galactic nuclei
Almeida, C. R., & Ricci, C. (2017) · Nature Astronomy · doi:10.1038/s41550-017-0232-z · Cited by 305
Relativistic jet feedback – III. Feedback on gas discs
Mukherjee, D., Bicknell, G. V., Wagner, A. Y., Sutherland, R. S., & Silk, J. (2018) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/sty1776 · Cited by 257
Metadata
- Authors
- Schawinski, K., Koss, M., Berney, S., & Sartori, L. F.
- Venue
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2015-06-24
- Volume
- 451
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 2517-2523
- ISSN
- 0035-8711 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2966
- OpenAlex
- W1884897161
- Cited by
- 407
- References
- 2
- FWCI
- 24.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- Schawinski, K., Koss, M., Berney, S., & Sartori, L. F. (2015). Active galactic nuclei flicker: an observational estimate of the duration of black hole growth phases of ∼105yr. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv1136
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