Monitoring AGNs with Hβ Asymmetry. II. Reverberation Mapping of Three Seyfert Galaxies Historically Displaying Hβ Profiles with Changing Asymmetry: Mrk 79, NGC 3227, and Mrk 841

Abstract

We report the results of reverberation mapping of three bright Seyfert galaxies, Mrk 79, NGC 3227, and Mrk 841, from a campaign conducted from 2016 December to 2017 May with the Wyoming Infrared Observatory (WIRO) 2.3 m telescope. All three of these targets have shown asymmetric broad H β emission lines in the past, although their emission lines were relatively symmetric during our observations. We measured H β time lags for all three targets and estimated masses of their black holes—for the first time in the case of Mrk 841. For Mrk 79 and NGC 3227, the data are of sufficient quality to resolve distinct time lags as a function of velocity and to compute two-dimensional velocity-delay maps. Mrk 79 shows smaller time lags for high-velocity gas, but the distribution is not symmetric, and its complex velocity-delay map could result from the combination of both inflowing and outflowing H β emitting disks that may be part of a single larger structure. NGC 3227 shows the largest time lags for blueshifted gas, and the two-dimensional velocity-delay map suggests a disk with some inflow. We compare our results with previous work and find evidence for different time lags despite similar luminosities, as well as evolving broad-line region structures.