Black Hole Mass Estimation in Type 1 AGN: H$\beta$ vs. Mg II lines and the role of Balmer continuum

Abstract

Here we investigate the H$\beta$ and Mg II spectral line parameters used for the black hole mass (M${}_{\mathrm{BH}}$) estimation for a sample of Type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) spectra selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database. We have analyzed and compared the virialization of the H$\beta$ and Mg II emission lines, and found that the H$\beta$ line is more confident virial estimator than Mg II. We have investigated the influence of the Balmer continuum emission to the M${}_{\mathrm{BH}}$ estimation from the UV parameters, and found that the Balmer continuum emission can contribute to the overestimation of the M${}_{\mathrm{BH}}$ on average for ~ 5% (up to 10%).

arXiv comment9 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Microlensing of the broad emission lines in 27 gravitationally lensed quasars. Broad line region structure and kinematics
• Calibrating Mg II-based black-hole mass estimators using Low-to-High-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei
• UV Fe II emission model of HE 0413-4031 and its relation to broad-line time delays
• Temperature Profiles of Accretion Disks in Luminous Active Galactic Nuclei derived from Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Variability
• The Quasar 3C 47: Extreme Population B Jetted Source With Double-peaked Profile