Abstract
Analytical and numerical galaxy-formation models indicate that active galactic nuclei (AGNs) likely play a prominent role in the formation and evolution of galaxies. However, quantifying this effect requires knowledge of how the nuclear activity proceeds throughout the life of a galaxy, whether it alternates with periods of quiescence and, if so, on what timescales these cycles occur. This topic has attracted growing interest, but making progress remains a challenging task. For optical and radio AGNs, a variety of techniques are used to perform a kind of ‘archaeology’ that traces the signatures of past nuclear activity. Here we summarize recent findings regarding the lifecycle of an AGN from optical and radio observations. The limited picture we have so far suggests that these cycles can range from long periods of 107–108 yr to shorter periods of 104–105 yr, even reaching extreme events on timescales of just a few years. Together with simulations, observational results regarding the multiple cycles of AGN activity help to create a complete picture of the AGN lifecycle.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Di Matteo, T., Springel, V. & Hernquist, L. Energy input from quasars regulates the growth and activity of black holes and their host galaxies. Nature 433, 604–607 (2005).
Schaye, J. et al. The EAGLE project: Simulating the evolution and assembly of galaxies and their environments. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 446, 521–554 (2015).
Sijacki, D. et al. The Illustris simulation: The evolving population of black holes across cosmic time. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 452, 575–596 (2015).
McNamara, B. R. & Nulsen, P. E. J. Mechanical feedback from active galactic nuclei in galaxies, groups and clusters. New J. Phys. 14, 055023 (2012).
Fabian, A. C. Observational evidence of active galactic nuclei feedback. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 50, 455–489 (2012).
Cicone, C. et al. Massive molecular outflows and evidence for AGN feedback from CO observations. Astron. Astrophys. 562, A21 (2014).
Morganti, R., Tadhunter, C. N. & Oosterloo, T. A. Fast neutral outflows in powerful radio galaxies: A major source of feedback in massive galaxies. Astron. Astrophys. 444, L9–L13 (2005).
Tombesi, F. et al. Wind from the black-hole accretion disk driving a molecular outflow in an active galaxy. Nature 519, 436–438 (2015).
Woltjer, L. Emission nuclei in galaxies. Astrophys. J. 130, 38–44 (1959).
Marconi, A. et al. Local supermassive black holes, relics of active galactic nuclei and the X-ray background. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 351, 169–185 (2004).
Best, P. N. et al. The host galaxies of radio-loud active galactic nuclei: Mass dependences, gas cooling and active galactic nuclei feedback. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 362, 25–40 (2005).
Saikia, D. J. & Jamrozy, M. Recurrent activity in active galactic nuclei. Bull. Astron. Soc. India 37, 63–89 (2009).
Hogan, M. T. et al. High radio-frequency properties and variability of brightest cluster galaxies. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 453, 1223–1240 (2015).
Heckman, T. M. & Best, P. N. The coevolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes: Insights from surveys of the contemporary universe. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 52, 589–660 (2014).
Hardcastle, M. J., Evans, D. A. & Croston, J. H. Hot and cold gas accretion and feedback in radio-loud active galaxies. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 376, 1849–1856 (2007).
Harrison, C. M. Impact of supermassive black hole growth on star formation. Nat. Astron. 1, 0165 (2017).
Heckman, T. M. et al. Galaxy collisions and mergers — The genesis of very powerful radio sources? Astrophys. J. 311, 526–547 (1986).
Hopkins, P. F. et al. The relation between quasar and merging galaxy luminosity functions and the merger-driven star formation history of the universe. Astrophys. J. 652, 864–888 (2006).
Ramos Almeida, C. et al. Are luminous radio-loud active galactic nuclei triggered by galaxy interactions? Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 419, 687–705 (2012).
Gaspari, M., Temi, P. & Brighenti, F. Raining on black holes and massive galaxies: The top-down multiphase condensation model. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 466, 677–704 (2017).
Gaspari, M., Ruszkowski, M. & Oh, S. P. Chaotic cold accretion onto black holes. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 432, 3401–3422 (2013).
Ciotti, L., Ostriker, J. P. & Proga, D. Feedback from central black holes in elliptical galaxies. III. Models with both radiative and mechanical feedback. Astrophys. J 717, 708–723 (2010).
Ciotti, L., Pellegrini, S., Negri, A. & Ostriker, J. P. The effect of the AGN feedback on the interstellar medium of early-type galaxies: 2D hydrodynamical simulations of the low-rotation case. Astrophys. J. 835, 15 (2017).
van Haarlem, M. P. et al. LOFAR: The LOw-Frequency ARray. Astron. Astrophys. 556, A2 (2013).
Soltan, A. Masses of quasars. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 200, 115–122 (1982).
Yu, Q. & Tremaine, S. Observational constraints on growth of massive black holes. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 335, 965–976 (2002).
Lintott, C. J. et al. Galaxy Zoo: ‘Hanny’s Voorwerp’, a quasar light echo? Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 399, 129–140 (2009).
Józsa, G. I. G. et al. Revealing Hanny’s Voorwerp: Radio observations of IC 2497. Astron. Astrophys. 500, L33–L36 (2009).
Lintott, C. J. et al. Galaxy Zoo: Morphologies derived from visual inspection of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 389, 1179–1189 (2008).
Keel, W. C. et al. The Galaxy Zoo survey for giant AGN-ionized clouds: Past and present black hole accretion events. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 420, 878–900 (2012).
Schawinski, K., Koss, M., Berney, S. & Sartori, L. F. Active galactic nuclei flicker: An observational estimate of the duration of black hole growth phases of ~105 yr. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 451, 2517–2523 (2015).
Sun, A.-L., Greene, J. E. & Zakamska, N. L. Sizes and kinematics of extended narrow-line regions in luminous obscured AGN selected by broadband images. Astrophys. J. 835, 222 (2017).
Husemann, B., Wisotzki, L., Sánchez, S. F. & Jahnke, K. The properties of the extended warm ionised gas around low-redshift QSOs and the lack of extended high-velocity outflows. Astron. Astrophys. 549, A43 (2013).
Storchi-Bergmann, T., Baldwin, J. A. & Wilson, A. S. Double-peaked broad line emission from the LINER nucleus of NGC 1097. Astrophys. J. 410, L11–L14 (1993).
Lamassa, S. Astronomy: A black hole changes its feeding habits. Nature 540, 48–49 (2016).
McElroy, R. E. et al. The Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS). Mrk 1018 returns to the shadows after 30 years as a Seyfert 1. Astron. Astrophys. 593, L8 (2016).
Koay, J. Y., Vestergaard, M., Casasola, V., Lawther, D. & Peterson, B. M. ALMA probes the molecular gas reservoirs in the changing-look Seyfert galaxy Mrk 590. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 455, 2745–2764 (2016).
LaMassa, S. M. et al. The discovery of the first ‘changing look’ quasar: New insights into the physics and phenomenology of active galactic nucleus. Astrophys. J. 800, 144 (2015).
Runnoe, J. C. et al. Now you see it, now you don’t: The disappearing central engine of the quasar J1011+5442. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 455, 1691–1701 (2016).
Ruan, J. J. et al. Toward an understanding of changing-look quasars: An archival spectroscopic search in SDSS. Astrophys. J. 826, 188 (2016).
Gezari, S. et al. iPTF discovery of the rapid ‘turn on’ of a luminous quasar. Astrophys. J. 835, 144–155 (2017).
Kochanek, C. S. Tidal disruption event demographics. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 461, 371–384 (2016).
Merloni, A. et al. A tidal disruption flare in a massive galaxy? Implications for the fuelling mechanisms of nuclear black holes. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 452, 69–87 (2015).
Law, N. M. et al. The Palomar Transient Factory: System overview, performance, and first results. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 121, 1395–1408 (2009).
Chambers, K. C. et al. The Pan-STARRS1 Surveys. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.05560 (2016).
Ivezic, Z. et al. LSST: From science drivers to reference design and anticipated data products. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/0805.2366 (2008).
Novak, G. S., Ostriker, J. P. & Ciotti, L. Feedback from central black holes in elliptical galaxies: Two-dimensional models compared to one-dimensional models. Astrophys. J. 737, 26 (2011).
Tremblay, G. R. et al. Cold, clumpy accretion onto an active supermassive black hole. Nature 534, 218–221 (2016).
Maccagni, F. M. et al. The warm molecular hydrogen of PKS B1718–649 feeding a newly born radio AGN. Astron. Astrophys. 588, A46 (2016).
Wagner, A. Y., Bicknell, G. V. & Umemura, M. Driving outflows with relativistic jets and the dependence of active galactic nucleus feedback efficiency on interstellar medium inhomogeneity. Astrophys. J. 757, 136 (2012).
Shabala, S. S., Ash, S., Alexander, P. & Riley, J. M. The duty cycle of local radio galaxies. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 388, 625–637 (2008).
Vantyghem, A. N. et al. Cycling of the powerful AGN in MS 0735.6+7421 and the duty cycle of radio AGN in clusters. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 442, 3192–3205 (2014).
Kellermann, K. I. The spectra of non-thermal radio sources. Astrophys. J. 140, 969–991 (1964).
Pacholczyk, A. G. Radio astrophysics: Nonthermal processes in galactic and extragalactic sources. Phys. Today 24, 57 (1970).
Kardashev, N. S. Nonstationarity of spectra of young sources of nonthermal radio emission. Soviet Astron 6, 317–327 (1962).
Jaffe, W. J. & Perola, G. C. Dynamical models of tailed radio sources in clusters of galaxies. Astron. Astrophys. 26, 423–435 (1973).
Komissarov, S. S. & Gubanov, A. G. Relic radio galaxies: Evolution of synchrotron spectrum. Astron. Astrophys. 285, 27–43 (1994).
Blundell, K. M. & Rawlings, S. The spectra and energies of classical double radio lobes. Astrophys. J 119, 1111–1122 (2000).
Eilek, J. A. How radio sources stay young: Spectral aging revisited. Proc. Energy Transport in Radio Galaxies and Quasars 100, 281–286 (1996).
Katz-Stone, D. M., Rudnick, L. & Anderson, M. C. Determining the shape of spectra in extended radio sources. Astrophys. J. 407, 549–555 (1993).
Tribble, P. C. Radio spectral ageing in a random magnetic field. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 261, 57–62 (1993).
Hardcastle, M. J. Synchrotron and inverse-Compton emission from radio galaxies with non-uniform magnetic field and electron distributions. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 433, 3364–3372 (2013).
Harwood, J. J., Hardcastle, M. J., Croston, J. H. & Goodger, J. L. Spectral ageing in the lobes of FR-II radio galaxies: New methods of analysis for broad-band radio data. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 435, 3353–3375 (2013).
Harwood, J. J. et al. FR II radio galaxies at low frequencies. I. Morphology, magnetic field strength and energetics. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 458, 4443–4455 (2016).
Alexander, P. & Leahy, J. P. Ageing and speeds in a representative sample of 21 classical double radio sources. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 225, 1–26 (1987).
Parma, P. et al. Radiative ages in a representative sample of low luminosity radio galaxies. Astron. Astrophys. 344, 7–16 (1999).
Liu, R., Pooley, G. & Riley, J. M. Spectral ageing in a sample of 14 high-luminosity double radio sources. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 257, 545–571 (1992).
O’Dea, C. P. The compact steep-spectrum and gigahertz peaked-spectrum radio sources. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 110, 493–532 (1998).
Snellen, I. A. G. et al. On the evolution of young radio-loud AGN. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 319, 445–456 (2000).
Orienti, M. Radio properties of compact steep spectrum and GHz-peaked spectrum radio sources. Astron. Nachrichten 337, 9–17 (2016).
Fanti, C. et al. Are compact steep-spectrum sources young? Astron. Astrophys. 302, 317 (1995).
Bicknell, G. V., Dopita, M. A. & O’Dea, C. P. O. Unification of the radio and optical properties of gigahertz peak spectrum and compact steep-spectrum radio sources. Astrophys. J. 485, 112–124 (1997).
Tingay, S. J. & de Kool, M. An investigation of synchrotron self-absorption and free-free absorption models in explanation of the gigahertz-peaked spectrum of PKS 1718–649. Astron. J. 126, 723–733 (2003).
Owsianik, I., Conway, J. E. & Polatidis, A. G. Renewed radio activity of age 370 years in the extragalactic source 0108+388. Astron. Astrophys. 336, L37–L40 (1998).
Kunert-Bajraszewska, M., Marecki, A., Thomasson, P. & Spencer, R. E. FIRST-based survey of compact steep spectrum sources. II. MERLIN and VLA observations of medium-sized symmetric objects. Astron. Astrophys 440, 93–105 (2005).
Orienti, M., Murgia, M. & Dallacasa, D. The last breath of the young gigahertz-peaked spectrum radio source PKS1518+047. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 402, 1892–1898 (2010).
Callingham, J. R. et al. Broadband spectral modeling of the extreme gigahertz-peaked spectrum radio source PKS B0008–421. Astrophys. J. 809, 168 (2015).
Holt, J., Tadhunter, C. N. & Morganti, R. Fast outflows in compact radio sources: evidence for AGN-induced feedback in the early stages of radio source evolution. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 387, 639–659 (2008).
Shabala, S. S. et al. Delayed triggering of radio active galactic nuclei in gas-rich minor mergers in the local Universe. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 464, 4706–4720 (2017).
Stanghellini, C. et al. Extended emission around GPS radio sources. Astron. Astrophys. 443, 891–902 (2005).
Schoenmakers, A. P., de Bruyn, A. G., Röttgering, H. J. A. & van der Laan, H. Radio galaxies with a ‘double-double’ morphology — III. The case of B1834+620. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 315, 395–406 (2000).
Brocksopp, C., Kaiser, C. R., Schoenmakers, A. P. & de Bruyn, A. G. Three episodes of jet activity in the Fanaroff–Riley type II radio galaxy B0925+420. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 382, 1019–1028 (2007).
Konar, C., Hardcastle, M. J., Jamrozy, M. & Croston, J. H. Episodic radio galaxies J0116–4722 and J1158+2621: Can we constrain the quiescent phase of nuclear activity? Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 430, 2137–2153 (2013).
Konar, C. & Hardcastle, M. J. Particle acceleration and dynamics of double-double radio galaxies: Theory versus observations. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 436, 1595–1614 (2013).
Orrù, E. et al. Wide-field LOFAR imaging of the field around the double-double radio galaxy B1834+620. A fresh view on a restarted AGN and doubeltjes. Astron. Astrophys. 584, A112 (2015).
Tingay, S. J. et al. The Murchison Widefield Array: The Square Kilometre Array precursor at low radio frequencies. Pub. Astron. Soc. Australia 30, 7 (2013).
Williams, W. L. et al. LOFAR 150-MHz observations of the Boötes field: Catalogue and source counts. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 460, 2385–2412 (2016).
Hardcastle, M. J. et al. LOFAR/H-ATLAS: A deep low-frequency survey of the Herschel–ATLAS North Galactic Pole field. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 462, 1910–1936 (2016).
Mahony, E. K. et al. The Lockman Hole project: LOFAR observations and spectral index properties of low-frequency radio sources. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 463, 2997–3020 (2016).
Cordey, R. A. IC 2476 — A possible relic radio galaxy. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 227, 695–700 (1987).
Parma, P. et al. In search of dying radio sources in the local universe. Astron. Astrophys. 470, 875–888 (2007).
Murgia, M. et al. Dying radio galaxies in clusters. Astron. Astrophys. 526, 148 (2011).
Giovannini, G., Feretti, L., Gregorini, L. & Parma, P. Radio nuclei in elliptical galaxies. Astron. Astrophys. 199, 73–84 (1988).
Saripalli, L. et al. ATLBS extended source sample: The evolution in radio source morphology with flux density. Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 199, 27 (2012).
van Weeren, R. J., Röttgering, H. J. A., Brüggen, M. & Cohen, A. A search for steep spectrum radio relics and halos with the GMRT. Astron. Astrophys. 508, 75–92 (2009).
Dwarakanath, K. S. & Kale, R. Relics of double radio sources. Astrophys. J. 698, L163–L168 (2009).
Brienza, M. et al. Search and modeling of remnant radio galaxies in the LOFAR Lockman Hole field. Preprint available at https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.01904 (2017).
Godfrey, L., Morganti, R. & Brienza, M. On the population of remnant FRII radio galaxies and implications for radio source dynamics. Preprint available at https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.05909 (2017).
Shulevski, A. et al. Radiative age mapping of the remnant radio galaxy B2 0924+30: The LOFAR perspective. Astron. Astrophys. 600, 65 (2017).
Brienza, M. et al. LOFAR discovery of a 700-kpc remnant radio galaxy at low redshift. Astron. Astrophys. 585, A29 (2016).
Kaiser, C. R. & Cotter, G. The death of FR II radio sources and their connection with radio relics. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 336, 649–658 (2002).
Turner, R. J. & Shabala, S. S. Energetics and lifetimes of local radio active galactic nuclei. Astrophys. J. 806, 59 (2015).
Shimwell, T. W. et al. The LOFAR two-metre sky survey — I. Survey description and preliminary data release. Astron. Astrophys. 598, 104 (2017).
Banfield, J. K. et al. Radio Galaxy Zoo: Host galaxies and radio morphologies derived from visual inspection. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc 453, 2326–2340 (2015).
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank T. Oosterloo, M. Gaspari, L. Godfrey, M. Brienza, J. Harwood, A. Shulevski, L. Ciotti and the LOFAR Survey Team for help, comments and discussions. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013)/ERC Advanced Grant RADIOLIFE-320745. LOFAR was designed and constructed by ASTRON and has facilities in several countries that are owned by various parties (each with their own funding sources), and that are collectively operated by the International LOFAR Telescope foundation under a joint scientific policy.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing financial interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Morganti, R. Archaeology of active galaxies across the electromagnetic spectrum. Nat Astron 1, 39–48 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-017-0223-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-017-0223-0
This article is cited by
-
Characteristics of remnant radio galaxies detected in deep radio continuum observations from SKA pathfinders
Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy (2022)
-
A titanic interstellar medium ejection from a massive starburst galaxy at redshift 1.4
Nature Astronomy (2021)