The reprocessed X-ray emission from Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is an important diagnostic tool to study the dynamics and geometry of the matter surrounding the supermassive black holes (SMBHs). We present a broadband (optical-UV to hard X-ray) spectral study of the bare Seyfert 1 galaxy, ESO~511--G030, using multi-epoch Suzaku and XMM-Newton data from 2012 and 2007 respectively. The broadband spectra of ESO~511--G030 exhibit a UV bump, a prominent soft-excess below 2 keV, a relatively broad ($σ=0.08 - 0.14$ keV) Fe emission line at 6.4 keV and a weak Compton hump at E > 10 keV. The soft X-ray excess in ESO~511--G030 can be described either as the thermal Comptonization of disk seed photons by a warm ($0.40^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$ keV), optically thick ($τ= 12.7^{+0.5}_{-0.4}$) and compact ($< 15 \rm r_{g}$) corona or as the blurred reflection from an untruncated and moderate to highly ionized accretion disk. However, for the blurred reflection, the model requires some extreme configuration of the disk and corona. Both these models prefer a rapidly spinning black hole ($a>0.78$) and a compact corona, indicating a relativistic origin of the broad Fe emission line. We found an inner disk temperature of $\sim 2-3$ eV that characterises the UV bump and the SMBH accretes at a sub-Eddington rate ($λ_{Edd} = 0.004-0.008$).
We review the Seyfert 1.5 Galaxy ESO 362-G18 for exploring the origin of the soft X-ray excess. The Warm Corona and Relativistic Reflection models are two main scenarios to interpret the soft X-ray excess in AGNs at present. We use the simultaneous X-ray observation data of XMM-Newton and NuSTAR on Sep. 24th, 2016 to perform spectral analysis in two steps. First, we analyze the time-average spectra by using Warm Corona and Relativistic Reflection models. Moreover, we also explore the Hybrid model, Double Reflection model and Double Warm Corona model. We find that both of Warm Corona and Relati…
A multi-epoch, multi-instrument analysis of the Seyfert 1 galaxy HE 0436-4717 is conducted using optical to X-ray data from XMM-Newton and Swift (including the BAT). Fitting of the UV-to-X-ray spectral energy distribution shows little evidence of extinction and the X-ray spectral analysis does not confirm previous reports of deep absorption edges from OVIII. HE 0436-4717 is a "bare" Seyfert with negligible line-of-sight absorption making it ideal to study the central X-ray emitting region. Three scenarios were considered to describe the X-ray data: partial covering absorption, blurred reflecti…
We report flux-resolved spectroscopic analysis of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) ESO 103--035 using \textit{NuSTAR} observations. Following an earlier work, we fit the spectra using a thermal Comptonization model with a relativistic reflection component to obtain estimates of the coronal temperature for two flux levels. The coronal temperature was found to increase from 24.0$^{+6.8}_{-3.4}$ to 55.3$^{+54.6}_{-7.2}$ keV (errors at 1-$σ$ confidence level) as the flux increased from $9.8$ to $11.9 \times 10^{-11}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in the 3--78 keV band. A marginal variation in the high e…
We present a spectral and imaging analysis of the XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of the Seyfert 2 galaxy ESO138-G001, with the aim of characterizing the circumnuclear material responsible for the soft (0.3-2.0 keV) and hard (5-10 keV) X-ray emission. We confirm that the source is absorbed by Compton-thick gas. However, if a self-consistent model of reprocessing from cold toroidal material is used (MYTorus), a possible scenario requires the absorber to be inhomogenous, its column density along the line of sight being larger than the average column density integrated over all lines- of-sigh…
We present the first detailed X-ray analysis of three AGN, the Seyfert 1 galaxies UGC 3142 and ESO 140-43, and the Seyfert 2 galaxy ESO 383-18, in order to study the geometry and the physical characteristics of their absorbers. High quality XMM-Newton EPIC and RGS data were analysed, as well as Swift/XRT and BAT and INTEGRAL IBIS/ISGRI data, in order to cover the 0.3--110 keV energy range. For ESO 140-43 also XMM-Newton/OM and Swift/UVOT data were used. We studied the variability of the three AGN on a time-scale of seconds using the EPIC/PN light curves, and the long-term time-scale variabilit…
We report results from multi-epoch X-ray observations of the Seyfert 1.5 galaxy ESO 362-G18 performed between November 2005 and June 2010. ESO 362-G18 generally exhibits the typical X-ray spectrum of type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). A disc-reflection component accounts for broad residuals in the iron K band and above 10~keV, as well as for a significant soft excess. From our best-fitting reflection model, we measure a black hole spin greater or equal to 0.92 at the 99.99 per cent confidence level. ESO 362-G18 is also (typically) mildly absorbed by a column of neutral gas. The absorber is v…
We methodically model the broad-band Suzaku spectra of a small sample of six 'bare' Seyfert galaxies: Ark 120, Fairall 9, MCG-02-14-009, Mrk 335, NGC 7469 and SWIFT J2127.4+5654. The analysis of bare Seyferts allows a consistent and physical modelling of AGN due to a weak amount of any intrinsic warm absorption, removing the degeneracy between the spectral curvature due to warm absorption and the red-wing of the Fe K region. Through effective modelling of the broad-band spectrum and investigating the presence of narrow neutral or ionized emission lines and reflection from distant material, we …
We have extensively studied the broadband X-ray spectra of the source ESO~141--G055 using all available \xmm{} and \nustar{} observations. We detect a prominent soft excess below 2 keV, a narrow Fe line and a Compton hump (>10 keV). The origin of the soft excess is still debated. We used two models to describe the soft excess: the blurred reflection from the ionized accretion disk and the intrinsic thermal Comptonisation model. We find that both of these models explain the soft excess equally well. We confirm that we do not detect any broad Fe line in the X-ray spectra of this source, although…
We study multi-wavelength variability of a bare Seyfert 1 galaxy Fairall~9 using \swift{} monitoring observations consisting of $165$ usable pointings spanning nearly two years and covering six UV/optical bands and X-rays. Fairall~9 is highly variable in all bands though the variability amplitude decreases from X-ray to optical bands. The variations in the X-ray and UV/optical bands are strongly correlated. Our reverberation mapping analysis using the {\tt JAVALIN} tool shows that the variation in the UV/optical bands lag behind the variations in the X-ray band by $\sim 2-10{\rm~days}$. These …
1ES 1927+654 is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) that appears to defy the unification model. It exhibits a type-2 optical spectrum, but possesses little X-ray obscuration. XMM-Newton and Suzaku observations obtained in 2011 are used to study the X-ray properties of 1ES 1927+654. The spectral energy distribution derived from simultaneous optical-to-X-ray data obtained with XMM-Newton shows the AGN has a typical Eddington ratio (L/L_Edd = 0.014-0.11). The X-ray spectrum and rapid variability are consistent with originating from a corona surrounding a standard accretion disc. Partial covering mod…
We present medium and high resolution X-ray spectral study of a Seyfert 1 galaxy ESO~198--G24 using a long (122 ks) XMM-Newton observation performed in February 2006. The source has a prominent featureless soft X-ray excess below $2\kev$. This makes the source well suited to investigate the origin of the soft excess. Two physical models -- blurred reflection, and optically thick thermal Comptonization in a warm plasma, describe the soft-excess equally well resulting in similar fits in the $0.3-10\kev$ band. These models also yield similar fits to the broad-band UV (Optical Monitor) and X-ray d…
We present results from a detailed spectral-timing analysis of a long ~486 ks XMM-Newton observation of the bare Seyfert 1 galaxy Ark 120 which showed alternating diminution and increment in the 0.3-10 keV X-ray flux over four consecutive orbits in 2014. We study the energy-dependent variability of Ark 120 through broad-band X-ray spectroscopy, fractional root-mean-squared (rms) spectral modelling, hardness-intensity diagram and flux-flux analysis. The X-ray (0.3-10 keV) spectra are well fitted by a thermally Comptonized primary continuum with two (blurred and distant) reflection components an…
We report the discovery of kpc-scale diffuse emission in both the hard continuum (3-6 keV) and in the Fe K alpha line in the Compton Thick (CT) Seyfert galaxy ESO428-G014. This extended hard component contains at least ~24% of the observed 3-8 keV emission, and follows the direction of the extended optical line emission (ionization cone) and radio jet. The extended hard component has ~0.5% of the intrinsic 2-10 keV luminosity within the bi-cones. A uniform scattering medium of density 1 cm-3 would produce this luminosity in a 1kpc path length in the bi-cones. Alternatively, higher column densi…
X-ray eclipse tomography: Resolving the extent of X-ray-emitting region(s) in the Seyfert galaxy ESO362-G18
Universidad de Alcalá（阿尔卡拉大学）；Universidad Complutense de Madrid（马德里康普顿斯大学）；Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas（希腊研究与技术基金会）；CSIC-INTA（西班牙国家科学技术研究中心-国家航空航天技术研究所）
We present the first analysis of the X-ray warm absorber and nuclear obscuration in the Seyfert 1.8 galaxy ESO 113-G010. We used archival data from a 100 ks XMM-Newton observation made in 2005. From high resolution spectroscopy analysis of the RGS data, we detect absorption lines originating from a warm absorber consisting of two distinct phases of ionisation, with log xi ~ 3.2 and 2.3 respectively. The higher-ionised component has a larger column density and outflow velocity (N_H ~ 1.6 x 10^22 cm^-2, v ~ -1100 km/s) than the lower-ionised component (N_H ~ 0.5 x 10^22 cm^-2, v ~ -700 km/s). Th…
High Resolution (<100pc) Ionization Structures in the ISM of AGN ESO~137-G34
Astronomical Observatory of the Jagiellonian University（雅盖隆大学天文台）；NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center（美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心）；Newcastle University（纽卡斯尔大学）；Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics（马克斯·普朗克地外物理学研究所）
We report results from multi-epoch X-ray observations of the polar-scattered Seyfert 1 galaxy ESO 323-G77. The source exhibits remarkable spectral variability from months to years timescales. The observed spectral variability is entirely due to variations of the column density of a neutral absorber towards the intrinsic nuclear continuum. The column density is generally Compton-thin ranging from a few times 10$^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$ to a few times 10$^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$. However, one observation reveals a Compton-thick state with column density of the order of 1.5 $\times$ 10$^{24}$ cm$^{-2}$. The obse…
We present the spectral results from a 130 ks observation, obtained from the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission-Newton (XMM-Newton) observatory, of the type I Seyfert galaxy Fairall 9. An X-ray hardness-ratio analysis of the light-curves, reveals a `softer-when-brighter' behaviour which is typical for radio-quiet type I Seyfert galaxies. Moreover, we analyse the high spectral-resolution data of the reflection grating spectrometer and we did not find any significant evidence supporting the presence of warm-absorber in the low X-ray energy part of the source's spectrum. This means that the central nucle…
We present the first high signal-to-noise broadband X-ray spectrum of the radio-quiet type-2 Seyfert ESO 033-G002, combining data from $XMM$-$Newton$ and $NuSTAR$. The nuclear X-ray spectrum is complex, showing evidence for both neutral and ionised absorption, as well as reflection from both the accretion disc and more distant material, but our broadband coverage allows us to disentangle all of these different components. The total neutral column during this epoch is $N_{\rm{H}} \sim 5-6 \times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$, consistent with the optical classification of ESO 033-G002 as a type-2 Seyfert b…
We report on the long- and short-term X-ray spectral analysis of the polar-scattered Seyfert 1.2 galaxy ESO 323-G77, observed in three epochs between 2006 and 2013 with Chandra and XMM-Newton. Four high-resolution Chandra observations give us a unique opportunity to study the properties of the absorbers in detail, as well as their short time-scale (days) variability. From the rich set of absorption features seen in the Chandra data, we identify two warm absorbers with column densities and ionisations that are consistent with being constant on both short and long time-scales, suggesting that th…
We present a detailed spectral analysis of the joint XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations of the active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the Seyfert 1.5 Galaxy ESO 362-G18. The broadband ($0.3\mbox{--}79$ keV) spectrum shows the presence of a power-law continuum with a soft excess below $2$ keV, iron K$α$ emission ($\sim 6.4$ keV), and a Compton hump (peaking at $\sim 20$ keV). We find that the soft excess can be modeled by two different possible scenarios: a warm ($kT_\mathrm{e}\sim0.2$ keV) and optically thick ($τ\sim34$) Comptonizing corona; or with relativistically-blurred reflection off a high-dens…
We report on a systematic investigation of the gamma-ray properties of 120 hard X-ray-selected Seyfert galaxies classified as `radio-quiet' objects, utilizing the three-year accumulation of Fermi-LAT data. Our sample of Seyfert galaxies is selected using the Swift-BAT 58-month catalog, restricting the analysis to the bright sources with average hard X-ray fluxes F(14-195 keV) > 2.5x10-11 erg cm-2 s-1 at high Galactic latitudes (|b|>10 deg). In order to remove `radio-loud' objects from the sample, we use the `hard X-ray radio loudness parameter', Rrx, defined as the ratio of the total 1.4 GHz r…
We present the spectral/timing properties of the bare Seyfert galaxy Ark 120 through a deep ~420ks XMM-Newton campaign plus recent NuSTAR observations and a ~6-month Swift monitoring campaign. We investigate the spectral decomposition through fractional rms, covariance and difference spectra, finding the mid- to long-timescale (~day-year) variability to be dominated by a relatively smooth, steep component, peaking in the soft X-ray band. Additionally, we find evidence for variable FeK emission red-ward of the FeK-alpha core on long timescales, consistent with previous findings. We detect a cle…
We present the long-term X-ray spectral and temporal analysis of a 'bare-type AGN' Ark 120. We consider the observations from XMM-Newton, Suzaku, Swift, and NuSTAR from 2003 to 2018. The spectral properties of this source are studied using various phenomenological and physical models present in the literature. We report (a) the variations of several physical parameters, such as the temperature and optical depth of the electron cloud, the size of the Compton cloud, and accretion rate for the last fifteen years. The spectral variations are explained from the change in the accretion dynamics; (b)…
We report on the results from a large observational campaign on the bare Seyfert galaxy Ark 120, jointly carried out in 2014 with XMM-Newton, Chandra, and NuSTAR. The fortunate line of sight to this source, devoid of any significant absorbing material, provides an incomparably clean view to the nuclear regions of an active galaxy. Here we focus on the analysis of the iron fluorescence features, which form a composite emission pattern in the 6$-$7 keV band. The prominent K$α$ line from neutral iron at 6.4 keV is resolved in the Chandra High-Energy Transmission Grating spectrum to a full-width a…
IGR J09026-4812 was discovered by INTEGRAL in 2006 as a new hard X-ray source. Thereafter, an observation with Chandra pinpointed a single X-ray source within the ISGRI error circle, showing a hard spectrum, and improving its high-energy localisation to a subarcsecond accuracy. Thus, the X-ray source was associated to the infrared counterpart 2MASS J09023731-4813339 whose JHKs photometry indicated a highly reddened source. The high-energy properties and the counterpart photometry suggested a high-mass X-ray binary with a main sequence companion star located 6.3-8.1 kpc away and with a 0.3-10 k…
Winds outflowing from Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) may carry significant amount of mass and energy out to their host galaxies. In this paper we report the detection of a sub-relativistic outflow observed in the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy IRAS17020+4544 as a series of absorption lines corresponding to at least 5 absorption components with an unprecedented wide range of associated column densities and ionization levels and velocities in the range of 23,000-33,000 km/s, detected at X-ray high spectral resolution (E/Delta E ~1000) with the ESA's observatory XMM-Newton. The charge states of the …
The spectral shape of the hard X-ray continuum of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) can be ascribed to inverse Compton scattering of optical/UV seed photons from the accretion disc by a hot corona of electrons. This physical process produces a polarization signal which is strongly sensitive to the geometry of the scattering medium (i.e. the hot corona) and of the radiation field. MoCA (Monte Carlo code for Comptonisation in Astrophysics) is a versatile code which allows for different geometries and configurations to be tested for Compton scattering in compact objects. A single photon approach is co…
X-ray Timing and Spectral studies of the bare AGN Mrk 110
Department of Astronomy, University College of Science, Osmania University（奥斯曼尼亚大学科学学院天文学系）；Space Astronomy Group, ISITE Campus, U. R. Rao Satellite Centre（U.R. Rao卫星中心ISITE校区空间天文学组）
We have carried out an extensive X-ray spectral study of the bare Seyfert-1 galaxy MCG--02--58--22 to ascertain the nature of the X-ray reprocessing media, using observations from Suzaku (2009) and simultaneous observations from XMM-Newton and NuSTAR (2016) . The most significant results of our investigation are: 1. The primary X-ray emission from the corona is constant in these observations, both in terms of the power law slope ($Γ=1.80$) and luminosity ($L_{2-10 \rm keV}= 2.55\times 10^{44} $ erg/s). 2. The soft excess flux decreased by a factor of two in 2016, the Compton hump weakened/vani…
The Seyfert 1 galaxy, Ark 120, is a prototype example of the so-called class of bare nucleus AGN, whereby there is no known evidence for the presence of ionized gas along the direct line of sight. Here deep ($>400$ ks exposure), high resolution X-ray spectroscopy of Ark 120 is presented, from XMM-Newton observations which were carried out in March 2014, together with simultaneous Chandra/HETG exposures. The high resolution spectra confirmed the lack of intrinsic absorbing gas associated with Ark 120, with the only X-ray absorption present originating from the ISM of our own Galaxy, with a poss…
We present joint \textit{XMM-Newton} and \textit{NuSTAR} observations of the `bare' narrow line Seyfert 1 Ton S180 ($z=0.062$), carried out in 2016 and providing the first hard X-ray view of this luminous galaxy. We find that the 0.4--30 keV band cannot be self-consistently reproduced by relativistic reflection models, which fail to account simultaneously for the soft and hard X-ray emission. The smooth soft excess prefers extreme blurring parameters, confirmed by the nearly featureless nature of the RGS spectrum, while the moderately broad Fe K line and the modest hard excess above 10 keV app…
To constrain the origin of the soft X-ray excess phenomenon seen in many active galactic nuclei, the intensity-correlated spectral analysis, developed by Noda et al. (2011b) for Markarian 509, was applied to wide-band (0.5-45 keV) Suzaku data of five representative objects with relatively weak reflection signature. They are the typical bare-nucleus type 1 Seyfert Fairall 9, the bright and typical type 1.5 Seyfert MCG-2-58-22, 3C382 which is one of the X-ray brightest broad line radio galaxies, the typical Seyfert-like radio loud quasar 4C+74.26, and the X-ray brightest radio quiet quasar MR225…
(Abridged) Narrow Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies have low mass black holes and mass accretion rates close to (or exceeding) Eddington, so a standard blackbody accretion disc should peak in the EUV. However, the lack of true absorption opacity in the disc means that the emission is better approximated by a colour temperature corrected blackbody, and this colour temperature correction is large enough ($\sim 2.4$) that the bare disc emission from a zero spin black hole can extend into the soft X-ray bandpass. Part of the soft X-ray excess seen in these objects must be intrinsic emission from the …
We test the two-corona accretion scenario for active galactic nuclei in the case of the `bare' Seyfert 1 galaxy HE 1143-1810. We perform a detailed study of the broad-band UV--X-ray spectral properties and of the short-term variability. We present results of a joint XMM-Newton and NuSTAR monitoring of the source, consisting of 5x20 ks observations, each separated by 2 days, performed in December 2017. The source is variable in flux among the different observations, and a correlation is observed between the UV and X-ray emission. Moderate spectral variability is observed in the soft band. The t…
Many of the new high energy sources discovered both by INTEGRAL/IBIS and Swift/BAT have been characterised thanks to extensive, multi-band follow-up campaigns, but there are still objects whose nature remains to be asserted. In this paper we investigate the true nature of three high energy sources, IGR J12134-6015, IGR J16058-7253 and Swift J2037.2+4151, employing multiwavelength data from the NIR to the X-rays. Through Gaia and ESO-VLT measurements and through Swift/XRT X-ray spectral analysis, we re-evaluate the classification for IGR J12134-6015, arguing that the source is a Galactic object…
We present simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations of the `bare' Seyfert 1 galaxy, Ark 120, a system in which ionized absorption is absent. The NuSTAR hard X-ray spectral coverage allows us to constrain different models for the excess soft X-ray emission. Among phenomenological models, a cutoff power law best explains the soft X-ray emission. This model likely corresponds to Comptonization of the accretion disk seed UV photons by a population of warm electrons: using Comptonization models, a temperature of ~0.3 keV and an optical depth of ~13 are found. If the UV-to-X-ray optxagnf mode…
Over the last few years several models have been proposed to interpret the widespread soft excess observed in the X-ray spectra of type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN). In particular, reflection from the photoionized accretion disc blurred by relativistic effects has proven to be successful in reproducing both the spectral shape and the variability pattern of many sources. As a further test to this scenario we present the analysis of a recent ~100 ks long Suzaku observation of Arakelian 120, a prototypical 'bare' Seyfert 1 galaxy in which no complex absorption system is expected to mimic a soft…
We report the results of a six-month Swift monitoring campaign of Ark120, a prototypical bare Seyfert1 galaxy. The lack of intrinsic absorption combined with the nearly contemporaneous coverage of the UV and X-ray bands makes it possible to investigate the link between the accretion disk and the Comptonization corona. Our observations confirm the presence of substantial temporal variability, with the X-rays characterized by large-amplitude flux changes on timescales of few days, while the variations in the UV bands are smoother on timescales of several weeks. The source also shows spectral var…
Relativistic reflection within an extended hot plasma geometry
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg（埃尔朗根-纽伦堡大学）；Dr. Karl Remeis-Sternwarte & ECAP（卡尔·雷梅斯天文台与极端条件天体物理中心）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；University of Hertfordshire（赫特福德大学）；Universität Würzburg（维尔茨堡大学）；Goethe Universität（歌德大学）；Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie（马克斯·普朗克射电天文研究所）；H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory（H.H.威尔斯物理实验室）；Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian（哈佛-史密森尼天体物理中心）
(Abridged) Soft and hard X-ray excesses, compared to the continuum power-law shape between ~2-10 keV, are common features observed in the spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and are associated with the accretion disc-corona system around the supermassive black hole. However, the dominant process at work is still highly debated and has been proposed to be either relativistic reflection or Comptonisation. We aim to characterise the main X-ray spectral physical components from the bright bare Broad Line Seyfert 1 AGN Mrk 110, and the physical process(es) at work in its disc-corona system view…
