SEAMBH in AGNs. XIII. Mrk142 GMOS and LJT spectra

We performed a rigorous reverberation-mapping analysis of the broad-line region (BLR) in a highly accreting (L/L_Edd_=0.74-3.4) active galactic nucleus, Markarian 142 (Mrk 142), for the first time using concurrent observations of the inner accretion disk and the BLR to determine a time lag for the H{beta}{lambda}4861 emission relative to the ultraviolet (UV) continuum variations. We used continuum data taken with the Niel Gehrels Swift Observatory in the UVW2 band, and the Las Cumbres Observatory, Dan Zowada Memorial Observatory, and Liverpool Telescope in the g band, as part of the broader Mrk 142 multiwavelength monitoring campaign in 2019.

We obtained new spectroscopic observations covering the H{beta} broad emission line in the optical from the Gemini North Telescope and the Lijiang 2.4m Telescope for a total of 102 epochs (over a period of 8 months) contemporaneous to the continuum data. Our primary result states a UV-to-H{beta} time lag of 8.68_-0.72_^+0.75^ days in Mrk 142 obtained from light-curve analysis with a Python-based running optimal average algorithm.