3C 120

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3C 120
3C 120 Color cutout hst 06285 01 wfpc2 f814w f555w f547m wf sci.jpg
Image of 3C 120 by the Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Taurus
Right ascension 04h 33m 11.1s [1]
Declination +05° 21′ 16″ [1]
Redshift 0.033010 ± 0.000030 [1]
Heliocentric radial velocity 9,896 ± 9 km/s [1]
Distance 419 Mly [1]
Apparent magnitude  (V)14.1 [1]
Characteristics
Type S0 [1]
Apparent size  (V)0.8′ × 0.6′ [1]
Notable featuresactive galactic nucleus
Other designations
BW Tauri, UGC 3087, Mrk 1506, II Zw 014, MCG +01-12-009, 4C +05.20, PGC 15504 [1]

3C 120, also known as Markarian 1506, is an active galaxy located in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of about 420 million light years. It has been categorised as a type I Seyfert galaxy and a broad-line radio galaxy. 3C 120 has been found to be a variable source in all wavelengths and hosts a superluminal jet.

Contents

Observational history

The galaxy was discovered in 1940 by Harlow Shapley and C. M. Hanley to be a variable in visual light, with an apparent magnitude varying between 13.7 and 14.6 in irregular intervals, and was given the variable star designation BW Tauri. [2] The radio emission of the galaxy was detected during the third radio research of Cambridge and was added in the Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources, published in 1959. The name signifies that it was the 120th object (ordered by right ascension) of the Catalog. The galaxy was catalogued as peculiar by Boris Vorontsov-Velyaminov and V. P. Arkhipova in the 1964 Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies. [2]

Variability of 1.1 magnitudes in the ultraviolet was detected in observations obtained in 1974-1977 by the International Ultraviolet Explorer. [3] In X-rays, changes in luminosity by a factor of 2.5 within days or months were detected by Einstein Observatory in 1979–1981, along with changes in spectral slope. [4] Large variability in the infrared was detected in the 1970s. [5] Superluminal motion in the radio jet was detected in observations between 1975 and 1977, along with flux variability. [6]

Characteristics

3C 120 is a lenticular galaxy with an extended structure that looks like spiral arms, while there is also emission extending southeast and northwest of the nucleus. In the optical images are visible extensive HII regions which are likely photoionised by the nucleus. [7] [8] Two shell structures are visible about one arcsecond from the bright nucleus. It has been suggested that photoionised nebulae are part of a tidal tail and the galaxy has undergone a galaxy merger. [9] The star formation rate of 3C 120 is estimated to be about 2.8 solar masses per year. [10]

It is a Fanaroff and Riley class I radio galaxy. The emission lines in the radiowaves are broad, and 3C 120 is the brightest broad-line radio galaxy. [11]

Active nucleus

The nucleus of 3C 120 has been found to be active and it has been categorised as a type I Seyfert galaxy. The most accepted theory for the energy source of active galactic nuclei is the presence of an accretion disk around a supermassive black hole. The mass of the black hole in the centre of 3C 120 is estimated to be 6.3+0.5
−0.3×107  M☉ based on reverberation mapping, [12] or 2.29×107 M☉ based on stellar velocity dispersion. [13]

The X-ray emission is highly variable and it is characterised by a broken power law that agrees well with the expected values given the size of the black hole and its accretion rate. [14] The X-ray spectrum also features a FeKα line. The emission is similar to that of radio quiet Seyfert galaxies, indicating that the X-rays are emitted by the accetion disk and its corona and not from the jet. [14] [15] The column density is estimated to be logNH= 20.67 ± 0.05 cm−2. Soft X-rays are emitted from hot gas that could originate from outflows or a superbubble. [16]

The variations observed in X-Rays are also observed in optical wavelengths after 28 days. [14] The variations are also observed at 37 GHz with a 20-day delay after the optical/UV ones. [17] It has been suggested that 3C 120 exhibits quasi-periodic oscillation, with a period of about 1.65 days. [18]

Gamma rays emission up to 10 GeV was detected by Fermi-LAT, which appears to variate in luminosity, with the flux doubling within a year, indicating a sustained rise in luminosity and not a flare as those observed in blazars. [19]

Superluminal jet

3C 120 has been found when observed in radio waves to have a jet. The jet is one sided and its brightness decreases as it gets farther from the core in accordance with a simple power law. [20] A bright knot is seen in the jet 4 arcseconds west of the core. After the knot the jet bends toward the northwest and one more knot is seen 20 arcseconds further west. [20] X-ray emission has been associated with a radio knot about 25 arcseconds from the core. [21] Another knot is seen 1.3 arcminutes from the core. After 3 arcminutes the jet appears broken and diffuse. A diffuse radio lobe without hot spots is visible southeast of the core. Radio emission from 3C 120 extends up to 14 arcminutes from the core. [20]

Inside the jet there are knots that appear to move 4.1 to 5 times faster than the speed of light. [22] The appearance of new bright knots in the jet has been found to happen after a decrease in X-ray emission, which indicates that the source of the radio jet is material from the inner part of the accretion disk falling into the black hole, with some passing through the event horizon while the rest is ejected into the jet. [22] 3C 120 was the first AGN where this relation, previously only observed in microquasars, was established. [22] The knots appear to fluctuate in brightness and polarisation changes direction, maybe due to the presence of a cloud about 8 parsec from the nucleus. [23] A stationary feature has been observed at a distance of 1.3 parsecs from the source of the jet, and it has been found that when the knot passes from that point, an optical flare is observed. [24] The angle between the line of sight and the axis of the jet is estimated to be between 10° and 20°. [25]

A faint optical jet that is 15 arcseconds long has been observed which coincides with the radio jet. There appears to be a visual counterpart for the bright radio knot 4 arcseconds west of the nucleus but there is no clear visual counterpart of the other knots. [26]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quasar</span> Active galactic nucleus containing a supermassive black hole

A quasar is an extremely luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. The emission from an AGN is powered by a supermassive black hole with a mass ranging from millions to tens of billions of solar masses, surrounded by a gaseous accretion disc. Gas in the disc falling towards the black hole heats up and releases energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation. The radiant energy of quasars is enormous; the most powerful quasars have luminosities thousands of times greater than that of a galaxy such as the Milky Way. Quasars are usually categorized as a subclass of the more general category of AGN. The redshifts of quasars are of cosmological origin.

An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the center of a galaxy that emits a significant amount of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, with characteristics indicating that this luminosity is not produced by the stars. Such excess, non-stellar emissions have been observed in the radio, microwave, infrared, optical, ultra-violet, X-ray and gamma ray wavebands. A galaxy hosting an AGN is called an active galaxy. The non-stellar radiation from an AGN is theorized to result from the accretion of matter by a supermassive black hole at the center of its host galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3C 273</span> Brightest quasar from Earth located in the constellation Virgo

3C 273 is a quasar located at the center of a giant elliptical galaxy in the constellation of Virgo. It was the first quasar ever to be identified and is the visually brightest quasar in the sky as seen from Earth, with an apparent visual magnitude of 12.9. The derived distance to this object is 749 megaparsecs. The mass of its central supermassive black hole is approximately 886 million times the mass of the Sun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blazar</span> Very compact quasi-stellar radio source

A blazar is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with a relativistic jet directed very nearly towards an observer. Relativistic beaming of electromagnetic radiation from the jet makes blazars appear much brighter than they would be if the jet were pointed in a direction away from Earth. Blazars are powerful sources of emission across the electromagnetic spectrum and are observed to be sources of high-energy gamma ray photons. Blazars are highly variable sources, often undergoing rapid and dramatic fluctuations in brightness on short timescales. Some blazar jets appear to exhibit superluminal motion, another consequence of material in the jet traveling toward the observer at nearly the speed of light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3C 279</span> Optically violent variable quasar in the constellation Virgo

3C 279 is an optically violent variable quasar (OVV), which is known in the astronomical community for its variations in the visible, radio and x-ray bands. The quasar was observed to have undergone a period of extreme activity from 1987 until 1991. The Rosemary Hill Observatory (RHO) started observing 3C 279 in 1971, the object was further observed by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory in 1991, when it was unexpectedly discovered to be one of the brightest gamma ray objects in the sky. It is also one of the brightest and most variable sources in the gamma ray sky monitored by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. It was used as a calibrator source for Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87* that resulted in the first image of a black hole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5548</span> Type I Seyfert galaxy in the constellation Boötes

NGC 5548 is a Type I Seyfert galaxy with a bright, active nucleus. This activity is caused by matter flowing onto a 65 million solar mass (M☉) supermassive black hole at the core. Morphologically, this is an unbarred lenticular galaxy with tightly-wound spiral arms, while shell and tidal tail features suggest that it has undergone a cosmologically-recent merger or interaction event. NGC 5548 is approximately 245 million light years away and appears in the constellation Boötes. The apparent visual magnitude of NGC 5548 is approximately 13.3 in the V band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3C 66B</span> Elliptical radio galaxy in the constellation Andromeda

3C 66B is an elliptical Fanaroff and Riley class 1 radio galaxy located in the constellation Andromeda. With an estimated redshift of 0.021258, the galaxy is about 300 million light-years away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3C 438</span>

3C 438 is a Seyfert galaxy and Fanaroff and Riley class II radio galaxy located in the constellation Cygnus. The radio galaxy has two lobes and there is a radio jet leading to the south lobe, which also has a prominent double hot spot. There is age variation across the lobes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3C 371</span> Active galaxy in the constellation Draco

3C 371 is a BL Lac object located in the constellation Draco. With a redshift of 0.051, this active galaxy is about 730 million light-years away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3862</span> Galaxy in the constellation Leo

NGC 3862 is an elliptical galaxy located 300 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 27, 1785, NGC 3862 is an outlying member of the Leo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 7469</span> Galaxy located in the constellation Pegasus

NGC 7469 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation of Pegasus. NGC 7469 is located about 200 million light-years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 7469 is approximately 90,000 light-years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on November 12, 1784.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3367</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo

NGC 3367 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Leo. It is located at a distance of about 120 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3367 is about 85,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on March 19, 1784.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 541</span> Galaxy in the constellation Cetus

NGC 541 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Cetus. It is located at a distance of about 230 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 541 is about 130,000 light years across. It was discovered by Heinrich d'Arrest on October 30, 1864. It is a member of the Abell 194 galaxy cluster and is included in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies in the category galaxies with nearby fragments. NGC 541 is a radio galaxy of Fanaroff–Riley class I, also known as 3C 40A.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 7213</span> Galaxy in the constellation Grus

NGC 7213 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Grus. It is located at a distance of circa 70 million light-years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 7213 is about 75,000 light-years across. It was discovered by John Herschel on September 30, 1834. It is an active galaxy with characteristics between a type I Seyfert galaxy and LINER.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 7130</span> Galaxy in the constellation Piscis Austrinus

NGC 7130 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Piscis Austrinus. It is located at a distance of about 220 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 7130 is about 100,000 light years across. It was discovered by John Herschel on September 25, 1834, and discovered independently by Lewis Swift on September 17, 1897. The location of the galaxy given in the New General Catalogue was off by 30 arcminutes in declination from the location of the galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1386</span> Galaxy in the constellation Eridanus

NGC 1386 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Eridanus. It is located at a distance of circa 53 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 1386 is about 50,000 light years across. It is a Seyfert galaxy, the only one in Fornax Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2273</span> Galaxy in the constellation Lynx

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3516</span> Galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major

NGC 3516 is a barred lenticular galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major. NGC 3516 is located about 150 million light years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 3516 is approximately 100,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 3, 1785.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3C 345</span> Quasar in the Hercules constellation

3C 345 is a blazar/flat spectrum radio quasar located in the constellation of Hercules. It is noted for hosting a superluminal jet and its variability in almost all wave bands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2110</span>

NGC 2110 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Orion. It is located at a distance of about 120 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 2110 is about 90,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on October 5, 1785. It is a Seyfert galaxy.

References

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  2. 1 2 Penston, M. V. (1 February 1968). "BW Tau = 3C 120". Information Bulletin on Variable Stars. 255: 1. ISSN   0374-0676.
  3. ↑ Oke, J. B.; Zimmerman, B. (July 1979). "IUE and visual spectrophotometry of 3C 120 and Markarian 79". The Astrophysical Journal. 231: L13. Bibcode:1979ApJ...231L..13O. doi: 10.1086/182996 .
  4. ↑ Halpern, J. P. (March 1985). "X-ray spectrum and variability of 3C 120". The Astrophysical Journal. 290: 130. Bibcode:1985ApJ...290..130H. doi:10.1086/162967.
  5. ↑ Rieke, G. H. (December 1978). "The infrared emission of Seyfert galaxies". The Astrophysical Journal. 226: 550. Bibcode:1978ApJ...226..550R. doi:10.1086/156639.
  6. ↑ Seielstad, G. A.; Cohen, M. H.; Linfield, R. P.; Moffet, A. T.; Romney, J. D.; Schilizzi, R. T.; Shaffer, D. B. (April 1979). "Further monitoring of the structure of superluminal radio sources". The Astrophysical Journal. 229: 53. Bibcode:1979ApJ...229...53S. doi: 10.1086/156929 .
  7. ↑ Zirbel, Esther L.; Baum, Stefi A. (February 1998). "The Ultraviolet Continuum Emission of Radio Galaxies. I. Description of Sources from the Hubble Space Telescope Archives". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 114 (2): 177–235. Bibcode:1998ApJS..114..177Z. doi: 10.1086/313070 . S2CID   122958826.
  8. ↑ Baldwin, J. A.; Carswell, R. F.; Wampler, E. J.; Boksenberg, A.; Smith, H. E.; Burbidge, E. M. (March 1980). "The nebulosity associated with 3C 120". The Astrophysical Journal. 236: 388. Bibcode:1980ApJ...236..388B. doi:10.1086/157756.
  9. ↑ Garcia‐Lorenzo, B.; Sanchez, S. F.; Mediavilla, E.; Gonzalez‐Serrano, J. I.; Christensen, L. (March 2005). "Integral Field Spectroscopy of the Central Regions of 3C 120: Evidence of a Past Merging Event". The Astrophysical Journal. 621 (1): 146–166. arXiv: astro-ph/0411298 . Bibcode:2005ApJ...621..146G. doi:10.1086/427429. S2CID   53654291.
  10. ↑ Westhues, Christian; Haas, Martin; Barthel, Peter; Wilkes, Belinda J.; Willner, S. P; Kuraszkiewicz, Joanna; Podigachoski, Pece; Leipski, Christian; Meisenheimer, Klaus; Siebenmorgen, Ralf; Chini, Rolf (21 April 2016). "Star formation in 3CR radio galaxies and quasars at z < 1". The Astronomical Journal. 151 (5): 120. arXiv: 1602.07443 . Bibcode:2016AJ....151..120W. doi: 10.3847/0004-6256/151/5/120 .
  11. ↑ Osterbrock, Donald (1 March 1978). "Optical Emission-Line Spectra of Seyfert Galaxies and Radio Galaxies". Physica Scripta. 17 (3): 137–143. Bibcode:1978PhyS...17..137O. doi:10.1088/0031-8949/17/3/002. S2CID   250889982.
  12. ↑ Hlabathe, Michael S; Starkey, David A; Horne, Keith; Romero-Colmenero, Encarni; Crawford, Steven M; Valenti, Stefano; Winkler, Hartmut; Barth, Aaron J; Onken, Christopher A; Sand, David J; Treu, Tommaso; Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M; Villforth, Carolin (21 September 2020). "Robotic reverberation mapping of the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 120". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 497 (3): 2910–2929. arXiv: 2007.11522 . doi:10.1093/mnras/staa2171.
  13. ↑ Nelson, Charles H. (1 December 2000). "Black Hole Mass, Velocity Dispersion, and the Radio Source in Active Galactic Nuclei". The Astrophysical Journal. 544 (2): L91–L94. arXiv: astro-ph/0009188 . Bibcode:2000ApJ...544L..91N. doi: 10.1086/317314 .
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  15. ↑ Rani, Priyanka; Stalin, C. S. (30 March 2018). "Coronal Proerties [sic] of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy 3C 120 with NuSTAR". The Astrophysical Journal. 856 (2): 120. arXiv: 1802.09724 . Bibcode:2018ApJ...856..120R. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aab356 . S2CID   55775276.
  16. ↑ Tombesi, F.; Mushotzky, R. F.; Reynolds, C. S.; Kallman, T.; Reeves, J. N.; Braito, V.; Ueda, Y.; Leutenegger, M. A.; Williams, B. J.; Stawarz, ł.; Cappi, M. (20 March 2017). "Feeding and Feedback in the Powerful Radio Galaxy 3C 120". The Astrophysical Journal. 838 (1): 16. arXiv: 1703.00516 . Bibcode:2017ApJ...838...16T. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa6342 .
  17. ↑ Marscher, Alan P.; Jorstad, Svetlana G.; Williamson, Karen E.; Lähteenmäki, Anne; Tornikoski, Merja; Hunter, John M.; Leidig, Katya A.; Mobeen, Muhammad Zain; Vera, Rafael J. C.; Chamani, Wara (7 November 2018). "X-Ray, UV, and Radio Timing Observations of the Radio Galaxy 3C 120". The Astrophysical Journal. 867 (2): 128. arXiv: 1809.09721 . Bibcode:2018ApJ...867..128M. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aae4de . S2CID   119222564.
  18. ↑ Agarwal, Aditi; Rani, Priyanka; Prince, Raj; Stalin, C. S.; Anupama, G. C.; Agrawal, Vipul (25 March 2021). "A Possible Quasi-Periodic Oscillation in the X-ray Emission of 3C 120". Galaxies. 9 (2): 20. Bibcode:2021Galax...9...20A. doi: 10.3390/galaxies9020020 .
  19. ↑ Sahakyan, N.; Zargaryan, D.; Baghmanyan, V. (February 2015). "On the gamma-ray emission from 3C 120". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 574: A88. arXiv: 1412.3559 . Bibcode:2015A&A...574A..88S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201425114. S2CID   119231414.
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  21. ↑ Harris, D. E.; Hjorth, J.; Sadun, A. C.; Silverman, J. D.; Vestergaard, M. (10 June 1999). "X‐Ray Emission from the Radio Jet in 3C 120". The Astrophysical Journal. 518 (1): 213–218. arXiv: astro-ph/9901132 . Bibcode:1999ApJ...518..213H. doi:10.1086/307284. S2CID   12937193.
  22. 1 2 3 Marscher, Alan P.; Jorstad, Svetlana G.; Gómez, José-Luis; Aller, Margo F.; Teräsranta, Harri; Lister, Matthew L.; Stirling, Alastair M. (June 2002). "Observational evidence for the accretion-disk origin for a radio jet in an active galaxy". Nature. 417 (6889): 625–627. Bibcode:2002Natur.417..625M. doi:10.1038/nature00772. hdl: 2027.42/62888 . PMID   12050658. S2CID   4382324.
  23. ↑ Gómez, José-Luis; Marscher, Alan P.; Alberdi, Antonio; Jorstad, Svetlana G.; Garcı́a-Miró, Cristina (29 September 2000). "Flashing Superluminal Components in the Jet of the Radio Galaxy 3C120". Science. 289 (5488): 2317–2320. Bibcode:2000Sci...289.2317G. doi:10.1126/science.289.5488.2317. PMID   11009410.
  24. ↑ León-Tavares, J.; Lobanov, A. P.; Chavushyan, V. H.; Arshakian, T. G.; Doroshenko, V. T.; Sergeev, S. G.; Efimov, Y. S.; Nazarov, S. V. (20 May 2010). "Relativistic Plasma as the Dominant Source of the Optical Continuum Emission in the Broad-Line Radio Galaxy 3C 120". The Astrophysical Journal. 715 (1): 355–361. arXiv: 0910.1320 . Bibcode:2010ApJ...715..355L. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/715/1/355. S2CID   119238963.
  25. ↑ Zdziarski, Andrzej A.; Phuravhathu, Dakalo G.; Sikora, Marek; Böttcher, Markus; Chibueze, James O. (1 March 2022). "The Composition and Power of the Jet of the Broad-line Radio Galaxy 3C 120". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 928 (1): L9. arXiv: 2202.11174 . Bibcode:2022ApJ...928L...9Z. doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac5b70 . S2CID   247058726.
  26. ↑ Hjorth, Jens; Vestergaard, Marianne; Sørensen, Anton N.; Grundahl, Frank (10 October 1995). "Detection of a Faint Optical Jet in 3C 120". The Astrophysical Journal. 452 (1). arXiv: astro-ph/9506117 . Bibcode:1995ApJ...452L..17H. doi:10.1086/309701. S2CID   1225824.
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