Markarian 231

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Markarian 231
Hubble Interacting Galaxy UGC 8058 (2008-04-24).jpg
Hubble Space Telescope image of Markarian 231
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Ursa Major
Right ascension 12h 56m 14.23410s [1]
Declination +56° 52′ 25.2386″ [1]
Redshift 0.04147 [2]
Heliocentric radial velocity 12173 km/s [2]
Distance 581 Mly, 178 Mpc
Apparent magnitude  (V)13.84 [3]
Characteristics
Type Sc/quasar
Other designations
UGC 8058, Mrk 231, Mkn 231, Markarian 231, MCG+10-19-004, ZW VII 490, PGC 44117

Markarian 231 (UGC 8058) is a Type-1 Seyfert galaxy that was discovered in 1969 as part of a search for galaxies with strong ultraviolet radiation. It is named after the Armenian astronomer Benjamin Markarian, who played an active role in identifying and cataloging a number of active galaxies during the 1960s. Markarian 231 contains the nearest known quasar [4] and is located about 581 million light years away from Earth, in the constellation of Ursa Major.

Contents

Characteristics

Markarian 231 is undergoing an energetic starburst. A nuclear ring at the center has an active rate of star formation of greater than 100 solar masses per year. It is one of the most ultraluminous infrared galaxies, with power derived from an accreting black hole in the center forming the closest known quasar. X-ray data shows the energy released from the black hole produces ultra-fast outflows with a velocity of -20,000 km s−1. [5]

The galaxy contains a curved radio jet interacting with the interstellar medium. Its position angle switches to -172○ when reaching a projected distance of 25 pc. [6] The Very Long Baseline Array found a triple radio source in Markarian 231. [7]

A 2015 study suggested the central black hole of 150 million solar masses has a black hole companion of 4 million solar masses, and that they orbit each other every 1.2 years. [8] That model has been shown to be unfeasible. [9]

Submillimetre astronomy has found evidence of molecular oxygen (O2), the first time molecular oxygen has been detected outside of the Milky Way galaxy. [10] The Herschel Space Observatory showed water vapor in the galaxy's emission. [11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018). "Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics . 616. A1. arXiv: 1804.09365 . Bibcode: 2018A&A...616A...1G . doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201833051 . Gaia DR2 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. 1 2 "Markarian 231". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  3. ↑ Véron-Cetty, M.-P.; Véron, P. (2010). "A catalogue of quasars and active nuclei". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 518 (13th ed.): A10. Bibcode:2010A&A...518A..10V. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201014188 .
  4. ↑ Veilleux, S.; Meléndez, M.; Tripp, T. M.; Hamann, F.; Rupke, D. S. N. (2016-06-27). "The Complete Ultraviolet Spectrum of the Archetypal "Wind-Dominated" Quasar MRK 231: Absorption and Emission from a High-Speed Dusty Nuclear Outflow". The Astrophysical Journal. 825 (1): 42. arXiv: 1605.00665 . Bibcode:2016ApJ...825...42V. doi: 10.3847/0004-637x/825/1/42 . ISSN   0004-637X.
  5. ↑ Feruglio, C.; Fiore, F.; Carniani, S.; Piconcelli, E.; Zappacosta, L.; Bongiorno, A.; Cicone, C.; Maiolino, R.; Marconi, A.; Menci, N.; Puccetti, S.; Veilleux, S. (2015-11-01). "The multi-phase winds of Markarian 231: from the hot, nuclear, ultra-fast wind to the galaxy-scale, molecular outflow". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 583: A99. arXiv: 1503.01481 . Bibcode:2015A&A...583A..99F. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201526020. ISSN   0004-6361.
  6. ↑ Wang, Ailing; An, Tao; Jaiswal, Sumit; Mohan, Prashanth; Wang, Yuchan; Baan, Willem A.; Zhang, Yingkang; Yang, Xiaolong (2021-07-01). "The obstructed jet in Mrk 231". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 504 (3): 3823–3830. arXiv: 2102.12644 . Bibcode:2021MNRAS.504.3823W. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab587 . ISSN   0035-8711.
  7. ↑ Silpa, S; Kharb, P; O’Dea, C P; Baum, S A; Sebastian, B; Mukherjee, D; Harrison, C M (2021-07-23). "AGN jets and winds in polarized light: the case of Mrk 231". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 507 (2): 2550–2561. arXiv: 2107.09466 . doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab2110 . ISSN   0035-8711.
  8. ↑ "HubbleSite - NewsCenter - Hubble Finds That the Nearest Quasar Is Powered by a Double Black Hole (08/27/2015) - The Full Story". hubblesite.org. Retrieved 2015-08-27.
  9. ↑ Leighly, Karen M.; Terndrup, Donald M.; Gallagher, Sarah C.; Lucy, Adrian B. (2016). "The Binary Black Hole Model for Mrk 231 Bites the Dust". The Astrophysical Journal. 829 (1): 4. arXiv: 1604.03456 . Bibcode:2016ApJ...829....4L. doi: 10.3847/0004-637X/829/1/4 . S2CID   118365669.
  10. ↑ Wang, Junzhi; Li, Di; Goldsmith, Paul F.; Zhang, Zhi-Yu; Gao, Yu; Shi, Yong; Li, Shanghuo; Fang, Min; Li, Juan; Zhang, Jiangshui (30 January 2020). "Molecular Oxygen in the Nearest QSO Mrk 231". The Astrophysical Journal. 889 (2): 129. arXiv: 2001.11675 . Bibcode:2020ApJ...889..129W. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab612d . S2CID   211003952.
  11. ↑ González-Alfonso, E.; Fischer, J.; Isaak, K.; Rykala, A.; Savini, G.; Spaans, M.; Werf, P. van der; Meijerink, R.; Israel, F. P.; Loenen, A. F.; Vlahakis, C.; Smith, H. A.; Charmandaris, V.; Aalto, S.; Henkel, C. (2010-07-01). "Herschel observations of water vapour in Markarian 231". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 518: L43. arXiv: 1005.3642 . Bibcode:2010A&A...518L..43G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201014664. ISSN   0004-6361.


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