The quasar main sequence of highly accreting NLSy1 galaxies

The quasar main sequence, or Eigenvector 1 (EV1), describes the optical diversity of active galactic nuclei, with Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxies anchoring the high-accretion end. Recent discoveries of overly massive black holes in the early Universe highlight the need to study low-redshift low-mass super-Eddington accretors as analogs for rapid black hole seed growth. We mapped a newly discovered large population of 18,749 NLSy1 galaxies identified in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Data Release 1 (DESI-DR1) onto the EV1 plane and compared them with the SDSS-DR17 NLSy1 population analyzed in a homogeneous way. We compared the spectral properties of the DESI-DR1 NLSy1 sample with the SDSS-DR17 NLSy1 catalog. We extracted the key parameters, including the broad Hβ full width at half maximum and Fe II strength (R_4570). To evaluate their accretion states, we derived single-epoch virial black hole masses using two approaches: an Fe II strength-dependent scaling relation and a recently established Eddington ratio-dependent fundamental plane. We further assessed how strongly the inferred accretion states depend on this choice by repeating the analysis with a conventional Fe II-independent calibration. The DESI-DR1 NLSy1 population occupies the extreme end of the EV1 parameter space, possessing strong Fe II emission (median R_ 4570 = 0.96 > 0); this fraction drops to sim8-9% with the Fe II-independent calibration and is therefore strongly calibration dependent. similar to that of the SDSS sample (0.96 /M_⊙ ≈ 6.81-6.85), and sim50% formally exceed the Eddington limit (łog λ_ Under both calibrations the two samples harbor low-mass black holes (median łog M_ BH ̊m Edd The unprecedented sensitivity of DESI has unveiled a large population of low-mass highly accreting NLSy1 galaxies. Under the high-accretion interpretation, the inner disk is expected to become geometrically thick and to shield the outer broad-line region, naturally producing the observed strong Fe II emission. This sample provides a rich statistical dataset of low-redshift candidate super-Eddington accretors, which can serve as laboratories for understanding early-Universe black hole growth.

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Publication Details

Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Published
2026-11-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202661385
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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article
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article

The quasar main sequence of highly accreting NLSy1 galaxies

Vaidehi S. Paliya, Chelliah Subramonian Stalin, Suvendu Rakshit, D. J. Saikia et al.
1 links
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
article

The quasar main sequence of highly accreting NLSy1 galaxies

Vaidehi S. Paliya, Chelliah Subramonian Stalin, Suvendu Rakshit, D. J. Saikia, Alberto Domínguez
article en

Abstract

The quasar main sequence, or Eigenvector 1 (EV1), describes the optical diversity of active galactic nuclei, with Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxies anchoring the high-accretion end. Recent discoveries of overly massive black holes in the early Universe highlight the need to study low-redshift low-mass super-Eddington accretors as analogs for rapid black hole seed growth. We mapped a newly discovered large population of 18,749 NLSy1 galaxies identified in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Data Release 1 (DESI-DR1) onto the EV1 plane and compared them with the SDSS-DR17 NLSy1 population analyzed in a homogeneous way. We compared the spectral properties of the DESI-DR1 NLSy1 sample with the SDSS-DR17 NLSy1 catalog. We extracted the key parameters, including the broad Hβ full width at half maximum and Fe II strength (R_4570). To evaluate their accretion states, we derived single-epoch virial black hole masses using two approaches: an Fe II strength-dependent scaling relation and a recently established Eddington ratio-dependent fundamental plane. We further assessed how strongly the inferred accretion states depend on this choice by repeating the analysis with a conventional Fe II-independent calibration. The DESI-DR1 NLSy1 population occupies the extreme end of the EV1 parameter space, possessing strong Fe II emission (median R_ 4570 = 0.96 > 0); this fraction drops to sim8-9% with the Fe II-independent calibration and is therefore strongly calibration dependent. similar to that of the SDSS sample (0.96 /M_⊙ ≈ 6.81-6.85), and sim50% formally exceed the Eddington limit (łog λ_ Under both calibrations the two samples harbor low-mass black holes (median łog M_ BH ̊m Edd The unprecedented sensitivity of DESI has unveiled a large population of low-mass highly accreting NLSy1 galaxies. Under the high-accretion interpretation, the inner disk is expected to become geometrically thick and to shield the outer broad-line region, naturally producing the observed strong Fe II emission. This sample provides a rich statistical dataset of low-redshift candidate super-Eddington accretors, which can serve as laboratories for understanding early-Universe black hole growth.

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Openalex Percentile: Top 60%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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