Mid-infrared variability of changing-look AGN

Abstract

It is known that some active galactic nuclei (AGNs) transited from type 1 to type 2 or vice versa. There are two explanations for the so-called changing look AGNs: one is the dramatic change of the obscuration along the line-of-sight, the other is the variation of accretion rate. In this paper, we report the detection of large amplitude variations in the mid-infrared luminosity during the transitions in 10 changing look AGNs using WISE and newly released NEOWISE-R data. The mid-infrared light curves of 10 objects echoes the variability in the optical band with a time lag expected for dust reprocessing. The large variability amplitude is inconsistent with the scenario of varying obscuration, rather supports the scheme of dramatic change in the accretion rate.

Published by ApjL, 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables

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• A Transient "Changing-look'' Active Galactic Nucleus Resolved on Month Timescales from First-year Sloan Digital Sky Survey V Data
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• The effects of large-scale magnetic fields on the model for repeating changing-look AGNs
• Broadband X-Ray Observations of the 2018 Outburst of the Changing-Look Active Galactic Nucleus NGC 1566
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• The Past and Future of Mid-Infrared Studies of AGN
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• Multi-wavelength observations of SDSS J105621.45+313822.1, a broad-line, low-metallicity AGN
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• Characterization of Optical Light Curves of Extreme Variability Quasars Over a ~16-yr Baseline
• A parsec-scale faint jet in the nearby changing-look Seyfert galaxy Mrk 590
• A compact core-jet structure in the changing-look Seyfert NGC 2617
• The origin of the vanishing soft X-ray excess in the changing-look Active Galactic Nucleus Mrk 590
• A Mid-infrared Flare in the Active Galaxy MCG-02-04-026: Dust Echo of a Nuclear Transient Event
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• The 'Big Dipper': The nature of the extreme variability of the AGN SDSS J2232-0806
• The Large Amplitude X-ray Variability in NGC 7589: Possible Evidence for Accretion Mode Transition
• Finding of a population of active galactic nuclei showing a significant luminosity decline in the past $\sim 10^{3-4}$ yrs
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