The development of a color-magnitude diagram for active galactic nuclei (AGN): hope for a new standard candle

Abstract:

Of the galaxies in our universe, only a small percentage currently have Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). These galaxies tend to be further out in the universe and older, and are different from inactive galaxies in that they emit high amounts of energy from their central black holes. These AGN can be classified as either Seyferts or quasars, depending on the amount of energy emitted from the center (less or more). We are studying the correlation between the ratio of dust emission and accretion disk emission to luminosities of AGN in order to determine if there is a relationship strong enough to act as a predictive model for distance within the universe. This relationship can be used as a standard candle if luminosity is found to determine distances in space. We have created a color-magnitude diagram depicting this relationship between luminosity and wavelengths, similar to the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram. The more luminous the AGN, the more dust surface area over which to emit energy, which results in a greater near-infrared (NIR) luminosity. This differs from previous research because we use NIR to differentiate accretion from dust emission. Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), we analyzed over one thousand Type 1 Seyferts and quasars. We studied data at different wavelengths in order to show the relationship between color (the ratio of one wavelength to another) and luminosity. It was found that plotting filters i-K (the visible and mid-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum) against the magnitude absolute K (luminosity) showed a strong correlation. Furthermore, the redshift range between 0.14 and 0.15 was the most promising, with an R² of 0.66.