A possible shutting-down event of mass accretion in an active galactic nucleus at z ∼ 1.8

Morokuma, Tomoki; Schramm, Malte; Kawaguchi, Toshihiro; Becerra González, Josefa; Acosta-Pulido, Jose Antonio; Castro-Rodríguez, Nieves; Morokuma-Matsui, Kana; Koshida, Shintaro; Furusawa, Junko; Furusawa, Hisanori; Terai, Tsuyoshi; Yoshida, Fumi; Niinuma, Kotaro; Toba, Yoshiki
Bibliographical reference

Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan

Advertised on:
12
2025
Number of authors
14
IAC number of authors
3
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
We present the discovery of a large gradual apparent fading event in optical and near-infrared wavelengths in a quasar at $z=1.767$ by a factor of ${\sim}20\!-\!30$ (in optical) over a period of ∼20 yr in the observed frame. This pronounced fading trend in brightness was first identified by comparing the magnitudes measured in the Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) images with those in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) images for ${\sim}3\times 10^{4}$ quasars spectroscopically identified by SDSS. We performed follow-up observations, including optical imaging and spectroscopy as well as near-infrared imaging, with >4 m-class telescopes such as Subaru, GTC, Keck, and SOAR telescopes. We combine these new data with the archival data to examine the variability behavior over ∼20 yr in detail and even the longer-term trend of the variability over ∼70 yr in the observed frame. We find that (i) the active galactic nucleus (AGN) component likely faded by a factor of ∼50 from the early 2000s to 2023 and (ii) the observed brightness decline is best explained by a substantial decrease in accretion rate rather than time-varying line-of-sight dust obscuration. These findings are derived from multi-component (time-varying AGN + constant galaxy) spectral energy distribution fitting over multi-epochs, which is well consistent with the optical spectra. The Eddington ratio decreases by a factor of ∼50, from ∼0.4 to ∼0.008, if we use the black hole mass measured with the SDSS spectrum, which could be highly uncertain because of the very large variability. The total brightness is dominated by the host galaxy in the rest-frame optical wavelength rather than the AGN as of 2023.
Related projects
Infrared spectra of the central region of five quasars observed with JWST show clear differences, especially in the silicate band, which reveals the presence of hotter or cooler dust around the black hole. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA and C. Ramos Almeida. Composition: G. Pérez Díaz (SMM, IAC).
Nuclear Activity in Galaxies: a 3D Perspective from the Nucleus to the Outskirts
This project consists of two main research lines. First, the study of quasar-driven outflows in luminous and nearby obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) and the impact that they have on their massive host galaxies (AGN feedback). To do so, we have been granted time with the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) in the optical and near-infrared ranges
Cristina
Ramos Almeida