CLASS: Coronal Line Activity Spectroscopic Survey

TL;DR

This study systematically surveys optical coronal lines in nearly 1 million SDSS galaxies, revealing their rarity, association with galaxy mass, and potential link to black hole activity, providing insights into intermediate mass black holes.

Contribution

It is the first large-scale systematic survey of optical coronal lines in SDSS galaxies, highlighting their rarity and relation to galaxy mass and black hole activity.

Findings

Coronal line emission is extremely rare, present in only ~0.03% of galaxies.

Most coronal line emitters in dwarf galaxies do not show optical signs of nuclear activity.

Higher ionization lines are more common in lower mass galaxies.

Abstract

We conduct the first systematic survey of a comprehensive set of the twenty optical coronal lines in the spectra of nearly 1 million galaxies observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 8 catalog. This includes often overlooked high ionization-potential (IP) lines such as [Ar X] $\lambda$5533, [S XII] $\lambda$7609, [Fe XI] $\lambda$7892, and [Fe XIV] $\lambda$5303. We find that, given the limited sensitivity of SDSS, strong coronal line emission is extremely rare, with only $\sim 0.03$% of the sample showing at least one coronal line, significantly lower than the fraction of galaxies showing optical narrow line ratios ($\sim 17$%) or mid-infrared colors ($\sim 2$%) indicative of nuclear activity. The coronal line luminosities exhibit a large dynamic range, with values ranging from $\sim10^{34}$ to $10^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We find that a vast majority ($\sim 80$%) of coronal line emitters in dwarf galaxies ($M_* < {9.6} \times 10^9$ M$_\odot$) do not display optical narrow line ratios indicative of nuclear activity, in contrast to higher mass galaxies ($\sim 17$%). Moreover, we find that the highest ionization potential lines are preferentially found in lower mass galaxies. These findings are consistent with the theory that lower mass black holes found in lower mass galaxies produce a hotter accretion disk, which in turn enhances the higher ionization coronal line spectrum. Future coronal line searches with 30 m class telescopes or JWST may provide a pathway into uncovering the intermediate mass black hole population.