78 research outputs found
On why the Iron K-shell absorption in AGN is not a signature of the local Warm/Hot Intergalactic Medium
We present a comparison between the 2001 XMM-Newton and 2005 Suzaku
observations of the quasar, PG1211+143 at z=0.0809. Variability is observed in
the 7 keV iron K-shell absorption line (at 7.6 keV in the quasar frame), which
is significantly weaker in 2005 than during the 2001 XMM-Newton observation.
From a recombination timescale of <4 years, this implies an absorber density
n>0.004 particles/cm3, while the absorber column is 5e22<N_H <1 1e24
particles/cm2. Thus the sizescale of the absorber is too compact (pc scale) and
the surface brightness of the dense gas too high (by 9-10 orders of magnitude)
to arise from local hot gas, such as the local bubble, group or Warm/Hot
Intergalactic Medium (WHIM), as suggested by McKernan et al. (2004, 2005).
Instead the iron K-shell absorption must be associated with an AGN outflow with
mildly relativistic velocities. Finally we show that the the association of the
absorption in PG1211+143 with local hot gas is simply a coincidence, the
comparison between the recession and iron K absorber outflow velocities in
other AGN does not reveal a one to one kinematic correlation.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS LETTERS. 5 pages, 4 figure
Suzaku Observations of Local Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies
We report the results from our analysis of {\it Suzaku} XIS (0.5-10 keV) and
HXD/PIN (15-40 keV) observations of five well-known local ULIRGs: {\em IRAS}
F05189-2524, {\em IRAS} F08572+3915, Mrk 273, PKS 1345+12, and Arp 220. The XIS
observations of F05189-2524 and Mrk 273 reveal strong iron lines consistent
with Fe K and changes in spectral shapes with respect to previous {\it
Chandra} and {\it XMM-Newton} observations. Mrk 273 is also detected by the
HXD/PIN at 1.8-. For F05189-2524, modeling of the data from the
different epochs suggests that the change in spectral shape is likely due to
the central source switching off, leaving behind a residual reflection
spectrum, or an increase in the absorbing column. An increase in the covering
fraction of the absorber can describe the spectral variations seen in Mrk 273,
although a reduction in the intrinsic AGN luminosity cannot be formally ruled
out. The {\it Suzaku} spectra of Mrk 273 are well fit by a ~94% covering
fraction model with a column density of cm. The
absorption-corrected log[ / ] ratio is consistent
with those found in PG Quasars. The 0.5-10 keV spectrum of PKS 1345+12 and Arp
220 seem unchanged from previous observations and their hard X-ray emission is
not convincingly detected by the HXD/PIN. The large column density derived from
CO observations and the large equivalent width of an ionized Fe line in Arp 220
can be reconciled by an ionized reflection model. F08572+3915 is undetected in
both the XIS and HXD/PIN, but the analysis of unpublished {\em Chandra} data
provides a new measurement at low energies.Comment: 37 pages including 4 tables and 10 figures. Accepted for publication
in ApJ. It is tentatively scheduled to appear in the January 20, 2009 issue
of Ap
The Electron Scattering Region in Seyfert Nuclei
The electron scattering region (ESR) is one of important ingredients in
Seyfert nuclei because it makes possible to observe the hidden broad line
region (hereafter HBLR) in some type 2 Seyfert nuclei (hereafter S2s). However,
little is known about its physical and geometrical properties. Using the number
ratio of S2s with and without HBLR, we investigate statistically where the ESR
is in Seyfert nuclei. Our analysis suggests that the ESR is located at radius
between 0.01 pc and 0.1 pc from the central engine. We also
discuss a possible origin of the ESR briefly.Comment: 5 pages and 1 figure. The Astrophysical Journal (Letters), in pres
Suzaku wide-band X-ray Spectroscopy of the Seyfert 2 AGN in NGC 4945
Suzaku observed a nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC4945, which hosts one of the
brightest active galactic nuclei above 20 keV. Combining data from the X-ray
CCD camera (XIS) and the Hard X-ray Detector (HXD), the AGN intrinsic nuclear
emission and its reprocessed signals were observed simultaneously. The
intrinsic emission is highly obscured with an absorbing column of cm, and was detectable only above keV. The
spectrum below 10 keV is dominated by reflection continuum and emission lines
from neutral/ionized material. Along with a neutral iron K line, a
neutral iron K and a neutral nickel K line were detected for the
first time from this source. The neutral lines and the cold reflection
continuum are consistent with both originating in the same location. The
Compton down-scattered shoulder in the neutral Fe-K line is
in flux of the narrow core, which confirms that the line originates from
reflection rather than transmission. The weakness of the Compton shoulder also
indicates that the reflector is probably seen nearly edge-on. Flux of the
intrinsic emission varied by a factor of within ks, which
requires the obscuring material to be geometrically thin. Broadband spectral
modeling showed that the solid angle of the neutral reflector is less than a
few . All this evidence regarding the reprocessed
signals suggests that a disk-like absorber/reflector is viewed from a near
edge-on angle.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure
Development of the analog ASIC for multi-channel readout X-ray CCD camera
We report on the performance of an analog application-specific integrated
circuit (ASIC) developed aiming for the front-end electronics of the X-ray
CCDcamera system onboard the next X-ray astronomical satellite, ASTRO-H. It has
four identical channels that simultaneously process the CCD signals.
Distinctive capability of analog-to-digital conversion enables us to construct
a CCD camera body that outputs only digital signals. As the result of the
front-end electronics test, it works properly with low input noise of =<30 uV
at the pixel rate below 100 kHz. The power consumption is sufficiently low of
about 150 mW/chip. The input signal range of 720 mV covers the effective energy
range of the typical X-ray photon counting CCD (up to 20 keV). The integrated
non-linearity is 0.2% that is similar as those of the conventional CCDs in
orbit. We also performed a radiation tolerance test against the total ionizing
dose (TID) effect and the single event effect. The irradiation test using 60Co
and proton beam showed that the ASIC has the sufficient tolerance against TID
up to 200 krad, which absolutely exceeds the expected amount of dose during the
period of operating in a low-inclination low-earth orbit. The irradiation of Fe
ions with the fluence of 5.2x10^8 Ion/cm2 resulted in no single event latchup
(SEL), although there were some possible single event upsets. The threshold
against SEL is higher than 1.68 MeV cm^2/mg, which is sufficiently high enough
that the SEL event should not be one of major causes of instrument downtime in
orbit.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure
Wide-band spectroscopy of the Compton thick Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 3 with Suzaku
We obtained a wide-band spectrum of the Compton-thick Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 3
with Suzaku. The observed spectrum was clearly resolved into weak, soft
power-law emission, a heavily absorbed power-law component, cold reflection,
and many emission lines. The heavily absorbed component, absorbed by gas with a
column density of 1.1x10^24 cm^-2, has an intrinsic 2--10 keV luminosity of
~1.6x10^43 erg s^-1, and is considered to be direct emission from the Mrk 3
nucleus. The reflection component was interpreted as reflection of the direct
light off cold, thick material; the reflection fraction was 1.36+/-0.20.
The cold material is inferred to be located > 1 pc from the central black hole
of Mrk 3 due to the low ionization parameter of iron (xi < 1 erg cm s^-1) and
the narrow iron line width (s < 22 eV). A Compton shoulder to the iron line was
detected, but the intensity of the shoulder component was less than that
expected from spherically distributed Compton-thick material. The weak, soft
power-law emission is considered to be scattered light by ionized gas. The
existence of many highly-ionized lines from O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, and Fe in the
observed spectrum indicates that the ionized gas has a broad ionized structure,
with xi=10--1000. The scattering fraction with respect to the direct light was
estimated to be 0.9+/-0.2%, which indicates that the column density of the
scattering region is about 3.6x10^22 cm^-2. This high-quality spectrum obtained
by Suzaku can be considered a template for studies of Seyfert 2 galaxies.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, accepted in PASJ for publicatio
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