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The Relative Wavelength Independence of IR Time Lags in NGC 4151 during the Years 2010–2015

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Abstract

We present results of a study of the correlation between the infrared (JHKL) and optical (B) fluxes of the nucleus of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 for the years 2010–2015 using our own data (partially published) in combination with published data of Roberts and Rumstey (2012), Guo et al. (2014) and Schnülle et al. (2013, 2015). We find similar lags for each of the HKL passbands relative to the optical of 37 ± 3 days. The lags are the same to within the accuracy of measurement. We do not confirm a significant decrease in the lag for HKL in 2013–2014 previously reported by Schnülle et al. (2015), but we find that the lag of the short-lag component of J increased. We discuss our results within the framework of the standard model, where the variable infrared radiation is mainly due to the thermal re-emission of short-wave radiation by dust clouds close to a variable central source. There is also some contribution to the IR emission from the accretion disk, and this contribution increases with decreasing wavelength. The variability in J and K is not entirely simultaneous, which may be due to the differing contributions of the radiation from the accretion disk in these bands. The absence of strong wavelength-dependent changes in infrared lag across the HKL passbands can be explained by having the dust clouds during 2010–2015 be located beyond the sublimation radius. The relative wavelength independence of the infrared lags is also consistent with the hollow bi-conical outflow model of Oknyansky et al. (2015).

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to S. Hönig for useful discussions, and also to D.-F. Guo for providing optical photometric data.

This work is devoted to the memory of Olga Taranova (1938–2017), our co-author in many studies of the IR variability of NGC4151 over the decades.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119992, Russia

    V. L. Oknyansky, V. I. Shenavrin & N. V. Metlova

  2. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA

    C. M. Gaskell

Authors
  1. V. L. Oknyansky
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  2. V. I. Shenavrin
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  3. N. V. Metlova
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  4. C. M. Gaskell
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Correspondence to V. L. Oknyansky.

Additional information

Published in Russian in Pis’ma v Astronomicheskii Zhurnal, 2019, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 237–248.

The article was translated by the authors.

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Oknyansky, V.L., Shenavrin, V.I., Metlova, N.V. et al. The Relative Wavelength Independence of IR Time Lags in NGC 4151 during the Years 2010–2015. Astron. Lett. 45, 197–207 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773719040066

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773719040066

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