MULTI-EPOCH SPECTROSCOPY OF DWARF GALAXIES WITH AGN SIGNATURES: IDENTIFYING SOURCES WITH PERSISTENT BROAD H alpha EMISSION

Abstract

We use time-domain optical spectroscopy to distinguish between broad emission lines powered by accreting black holes (BHs) and stellar processes (i.e., supernovae) for 16 galaxies identified as active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates by Reines et al (2013). Our study is primarily focused on those objects with narrow emission line ratios dominated by star formation, for which the origin of the broad H alpha emission was unclear. Based on follow-up spectroscopy, 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 5-14 years, suggesting a transient stellar process was responsible for the broad emission in previous Sloan Digital Sky Survey observations. 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 high spectral resolution 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 similar to 5 x 10(8) to 3 x 10(9) M-circle dot, and we measure sigma* in the range of 28-71 kms(-1). These sigma(*) correspond to some of the lowest-mass galaxies with optical signatures of AGN activity. We show that RGG 119, the one object that has both a measured sigma(*) and persistent broad H alpha emission, falls near the extrapolation of the M-BH - sigma(*) relation to the low-mass end.