Speaker: Margaret Verrico
Date/Time: July 11, 2025 / 12:30pm central.
Location: NCSA 1040
Zoom: https://illinois.zoom.us/j/82318062756?pwd=M3g1MFF6cytsOWFEbmU0UW1XWVoxQT09
Title: Catching Changing-Look AGN Transitions with the Zwicky Transient Facility
Abstract: Changing-Look AGN (CL-AGN) are AGN which gain or lose broad line emission on timescales less than a decade. Most CL-AGN have been discovered serendipitously in SDSS spectroscopy, making it difficult to determine the timescale and magnitude of the CL-AGN transition. As such, the physical mechanisms behind this transition are still unknown. I present new work measuring the timescale and magnitude of photometric variability in ZTF light curves for known CL-AGN. I find that CL-AGN transitions usually occur on timescales of about a year and can be distinguished from normal AGN variability by the change in their g-band magnitudes. I also present six Seyfert 1 AGN which are candidates for CL-AGN transitions.
