Ultraviolet Diagnostics for the Emission Line Gas in Active Galaxies

Optical diagnostic diagrams are frequently ambiguous as a test of the photoionization or fast shock models of the narrow line regions of active galaxies. Here, we present a set of UV line ratio diagrams which can discriminate between pure shock and photoionization modes of excitation, and to some extent, also discriminate shocks with ionized precursors from photoionization. These diagrams use relatively bright emission lines and reddening insensitive ratios and provide a practical observational test for separating the excitation mechanisms of the narrow line regions of active galaxies. The most useful diagrams are those involving the various ionization stages of Carbon, [OIII]5007/H-beta vs. CIV 1550/ HeII 1640 and the purely UV ratio pair CII] 2326 / CIII] 1909 vs. CIV 1550 / CIII]909. Temperature sensitive FUV lines CIII 977 and NIII 991 also provide good discriminants. The models are compared to observations of nearby AGN, and also to high redshift objects where the UV lines are shifted into the optical.