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Meteorology of the broad line region

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  • First Online:
Variability of Active Galaxies

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Physics ((LNP,volume 377))

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Abstract

We discuss the response of the broad emission lines to ionizing continuum variations in the context of the discrete cloud model. We consider cases in which the cloud system has a thick, spherical geometry and discuss several reverberation phenomena which may be relevant to the interpretation of observed light curves. We find that the lag obtained from cross-correlation analyses does not give a reliable indication of the effective “size” of the BLR; this can instead be obtained directly from the centroid of the transfer function. A notable property of this type of model is the relationship between the variability behaviour of an emission line and the shape of its profile. Computer simulations are presented which illustrate the evolution of the line profile in response to a ‘realistic’ continuum light curve.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Rd., CB3 OHA, Cambridge, UK

    Andrew Robinson

  2. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, La Laguna, 38200, Tenerife, Spain

    Enrique Pérez & Luis de la Fuente

Authors
  1. Andrew Robinson
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  2. Enrique Pérez
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  3. Luis de la Fuente
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Editor information

Wolfgang J. Duschl Stefan J. Wagner Max Camenzind

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© 1991 Springer-Verlag

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Robinson, A., Pérez, E., de la Fuente, L. (1991). Meteorology of the broad line region. In: Duschl, W.J., Wagner, S.J., Camenzind, M. (eds) Variability of Active Galaxies. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 377. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0030047

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0030047

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-53860-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-46325-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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