Multi-epoch Spectroscopy of Dwarf Galaxies with AGN Signatures: Identifying Sources with Persistent Broad H-alpha Emission

TL;DR

This study uses multi-epoch optical spectroscopy to differentiate between black hole activity and stellar processes in dwarf galaxies, finding persistent AGN signatures in some low-mass galaxies over several years.

Contribution

It provides the first long-term spectroscopic follow-up of dwarf galaxies with AGN candidates, confirming persistent AGN activity in some low-mass systems and measuring stellar velocity dispersions.

Findings

Most star-forming candidates showed fading or ambiguous broad H-alpha emission.

Persistent broad H-alpha emission was confirmed in two galaxies with AGN signatures.

One galaxy, RGG 119, aligns with the low-mass extrapolation of the M_BH–σ_* relation.

Abstract

We use time-domain optical spectroscopy to distinguish between broad emission lines powered by accreting black holes (BHs) or stellar processes (i.e., supernovae) for 16 galaxies identified as AGN candidates by Reines \etal (2013). Our study is primarily focused on those objects with narrow emission-line ratios dominated by star formation. Based on follow-up spectra taken with the Magellan Echellette Spectrograph (MagE), the Dual Imaging Spectrograph, and the Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph, we find that the broad H$\alpha$ emission has faded or was ambiguous for all of the star-forming objects (14/16) over baselines ranging from 5 to 14 years. For the two objects in our follow-up sample with narrow-line AGN signatures (RGG 9 and RGG 119), we find persistent broad H$\alpha$ emission consistent with an AGN origin. Additionally, we use our MagE observations to measure stellar velocity dispersions for 15 objects in the Reines et al. (2013) sample, all with narrow-line ratios indicating the presence of an AGN. Stellar masses range from $\sim5\times10^{8}$ to $3\times10^{9}$~\msun, and we measure $\sigma_{\ast}$ ranging from $28-71~{\rm km~s^{-1}}$. These $\sigma_{\ast}$ correspond to some of the lowest-mass galaxies with optical signatures of AGN activity. We show that RGG 119, the one object which has both a measured $\sigma_{\ast}$ and persistent broad H$\alpha$ emission, falls near the extrapolation of the $\rm M_{BH}-\sigma_{\star}$ relation to the low-mass end.