Is the slope of the intrinsic Baldwin effect constant?

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between emission-line strength and continuum luminosity in the best-studied nearby Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC5548. Our analysis of 13 years of ground-based optical monitoring data reveals significant year-to-year variations in the observed H-beta emission-line response in this source. More specifically, we confirm the result of Gilbert and Peterson (2003) of a non-linear relationship between the continuum and H-beta emission-line fluxes. Furthermore, we show that the slope of this relation is not constant, but rather decreases as the continuum flux increases. Both effects are consistent with photoionisation model predictions of a luminosity-dependent response in this line.

arXiv comment9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (5)

• Optical Variability in Active Galactic Nuclei: Starbursts or Disk Instabilities?
• Steps Toward Determination of the Size and Structure of the Broad-Line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei. XVI. A Thirteen-Year Study of Spectral Variability in NGC 5548
• Quasar Elemental Abundances at High Redshifts
• Quasars as Cosmological Probes: The Ionizing Continuum, Gas Metallicity and the EW-L Relation
• An Intrinsic Baldwin Effect in the H-beta Broad Emission Line in the Spectrum of NGC 5548

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