Spectral and Photometric Studies of NGC 7469 in the Optical Range

The galaxy NGC 7469 is a bright infrared source with an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and an intense star-forming region with a radius of approximately 500 parsecs, where the star formation rate is estimated to be 20–50 M⊙yr−1. This study presents the results of spectral and photometric observations carried out during the period from 2020 to 2024 at the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute (Almaty, Kazakhstan) and the Nasreddin Tusi Shamakhy Astrophysical Observatory (Shamakhy, Azerbaijan). Photometric data were obtained using B, V, and Rc filters, while spectroscopic observations covered the wavelength range of λ 4000–7000 Å. Data reduction was performed using the IRAF and MaxIm DL Pro6 software packages. An analysis of the light curves revealed that after the 2019–2020 outburst, the luminosity level of NGC 7469 remained relatively stable until the end of 2024. In November–December 2024, an increase in brightness (∼0.3--0.5 magnitudes) was recorded. Spectral data shows variations of the Ha fluxes and an enhancement of them in the end of 2024. On BPT diagrams, the emission line flux ratios [OIII]/H β and [NII]/H α place NGC 7469 on the boundary between regions dominated by different ionization sources: AGN and star-forming regions. The electron density of the gas, estimated from the intensity ratios of the [SII] 6717, 6731 Å lines, is about 800--900cm−3. Continued observations will help to determine whether the trend of increasing brightness and emission line fluxes recorded at the end of 2024 will persist.