First observation of double-peaked O I emission in the near-infrared spectrum of an active galaxy

Abstract

Double-peaked profiles associated with the broad-line region (BLR) of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are regarded as the clearest evidence of the presence of an accretion disk. They are most commonly detected by means of optical spectroscopy in the Balmer lines and in the Mg II $\lambda$2798 ultraviolet line. Here, we report the first unambiguous detection of a double-peak broad emission line associated with the O I $\lambda$11297 emission line in the near-infrared (NIR) in the local Seyfert 1 galaxy III Zw 002. Additionally, we detect simultaneously in the spectrum the double-peak emission in the Pa$\alpha$ line and very likely in the He II $\lambda$10830. This is the first time that several broad double-peaked NIR emission lines have been detected simultaneously. The double-peaked profiles are fit using a disk-based model, with an additional Gaussian component attributed to nondisk clouds, which represents the classical BLR. Our results obtained from the fits reveal important parameters, such as disk inclination and geometry. From the double-peaked profile fits, we suggest that the BLR in III Zw 002 has a disk-like geometry, as it extends up to the outer edge of the BLR.

8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, published in ApJ Letters

References in corpus (14)

• Reverberation Measurements of the Inner Radius of the Dust Torus in 17 Seyfert Galaxies
• Supermassive Black Holes with High Accretion Rates in Active Galactic Nuclei. IV. H$\beta$ Time Lags and Implications for Super-Eddington Accretion
• A 0.8-2.4 microns spectral atlas of Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Radius-Luminosity Relationship Depends on Optical Spectra in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Double-peaked profiles: ubiquitous signatures of disks in the Broad Emission Lines of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Long-term variability of the optical spectra of NGC 4151: I. Light curves and flux correlations
• The Nuclear Near-Infrared Spectral Properties of Nearby Galaxies
• Monitoring AGNs with H$\beta$ Asymmetry. III. Long-term Reverberation Mapping Results of 15 Palomar-Green Quasars
• OI and CaII observations in intermediate redshift quasars
• Evolution of the accretion disk around the supermassive black hole of NGC 7213
• Panchromatic Properties of the Extreme FeII Emitter PHL 1092
• Short timescale variations of the Hα double-peaked profile of the nucleus of NGC 1097
• SDSS J153636.22+044127.0 and its analogues: shocked outflows, not active binary black holes
• Spectral variability of the 3C 390.3 nucleus for more than 20 years -- II. Variability of the broad emission-line profiles and He II $\lambda 4686$A emission-line fluxes

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Spectral variability studies in Active Galactic Nuclei: Exploring continuum and emission line regions in the age of LSST and JWST
• Double-peaked Ca II traces a relativistic broad-line region disk in NGC 4593
• The neutral gas phase nearest to supermassive black holes