632 research outputs found
The interstellar oxygen-K absorption edge as observed by XMM-Newton
High resolution X-ray spectra of the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) on
board the XMM satellite are used to resolve the oxygen K absorption edge. By
combining spectra of low and high extinction sources, the observed absorption
edge can be split in the true interstellar (ISM) extinction and the
instrumental absorption. The detailed ISM edge structure closely follows the
edge structure of neutral oxygen as derived by theoretical R-matrix
calculations. However, the position of the theoretical edge requires a
wavelength shift. In addition the detailed instrumental RGS absorption edge
structure is presented. All results are verified by comparing to a subset of
Chandra LETG-HRC observations.Comment: LaTeX2e A&A style, 10 pages, 12 postscript figures, accepted for
publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic
Simultaneous X-ray and Ultraviolet spectroscopy of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 5548. III. X-ray time variability
The Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 was observed for a week by Chandra using both
the HETGS and LETGS spectrometers. In this paper we study the time variability
of the continuum radiation. During our observation, the source showed a gradual
increase in flux over four days, followed by a rapid decrease and flattening of
the light curve afterwards. Superimposed upon these relatively slow variations
several short duration bursts or quasi-periodic oscillations occured with a
typical duration of several hours and separation between 0.6-0.9 days. The
bursts show a delay of the hard X-rays with respect to the soft X-rays of a few
hours. We interprete these bursts as due to a rotating, fluctuating hot spot at
approximately 10 gravitational radii; the time delay of the hard X-rays from
the bursts agree with the canonical picture of Inverse Compton scattering of
the soft accretion disk photons on a hot medium that is relatively close to the
central black hole.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Identification of an Extended Accretion Disk Corona in the Hercules X-1 Low State: Moderate Optical Depth, Precise Density Determination, and Verification of CNO Abundances
We identify an accretion disk atmosphere and corona from the high resolution
X-ray spectrum of Hercules X-1, and we determine its detailed physical
properties. More than two dozen recombination emission lines (from Fe XXVI at
1.78 A to N VI at 29.08 A) and Fe K-alpha, K-beta fluorescence lines were
detected in a 50 ks observation with the Chandra High-Energy Transmission
Grating Spectrometer (HETGS). They allow us to measure the density,
temperature, spatial distribution, elemental composition, and kinematics of the
plasma. We exclude HZ Her as the source of the recombination emission. We
compare accretion disk model atmospheres with the observed spectrum in order to
constrain the stratification of density and ionization, disk atmosphere area,
elemental composition, and energetics. The atmospheric spectrum observed during
the low state is photoionized by the main-on X-ray continuum, indicating that
the disk is observed edge-on during the low state. We infer the mean number of
scatterings N of Ly-alpha and Ly-beta line photons from H-like ions. We derive
N < 69 for O VIII Ly_alpha_1, which rules out the presence of a mechanism
modeled by Sako (2003) to enhance N VII emission via a line overlap with O
VIII. The line optical depth diagnostics are consistent with a flattened
atmosphere. Our spectral analysis, the disk atmosphere model, and the presence
of intense N VII and N VI lines (plus N V in the UV), confirm the
over-abundance of nitrogen relative to other metals, which was shown to be
indicative of CNO cycle processing in a massive progenitor.Comment: 38 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Multiwavelength Campaign on Mrk 509 X. Lower limit on the distance of the absorber from HST COS and STIS spectroscopy
Active Galactic Nuclei often show evidence of photoionized outflows. A major
uncertainty in models for these outflows is the distance () to the gas from
the central black hole. In this paper we use the HST/COS data from a massive
multi-wavelength monitoring campaign on the bright Seyfert I galaxy Mrk 509, in
combination with archival HST/STIS data, to constrain the location of the
various kinematic components of the outflow. We compare the expected response
of the photoionized gas to changes in ionizing flux with the changes measured
in the data using the following steps: 1) We compare the column densities of
each kinematic component measured in the 2001 STIS data with those measured in
the 2009 COS data; 2) We use time-dependent photionization calculations with a
set of simulated lightcurves to put statistical upper limits on the hydrogen
number density that are consistent with the observed small changes in the ionic
column densities; 3) From the upper limit on the number density, we calculate a
lower limit on the distance to the absorber from the central source via the
prior determination of the ionization parameter. Our method offers two
improvements on traditional timescale analysis. First, we account for the
physical behavior of AGN lightcurves. Second, our analysis accounts for the
quality of measurement in cases where no changes are observed in the absorption
troughs. The very small variations in trough ionic column densities (mostly
consistent with no change) between the 2001 and 2009 epochs allow us to put
statistical lower limits on the distance between 100--200 pc for all the major
UV absorption components at a confidence level of 99%. These results are mainly
consistent with the independent distance estimates derived for the warm
absorbers from the simultaneous X-ray spectra.Comment: Accepted to A&A (06 APR 2012
Simultaneous UV and X-ray Spectroscopy of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 5548. I. Physical Conditions in the UV Absorbers
We present new UV spectra of the nucleus of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548,
which we obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph at high
spectral resolution, in conjunction with simultaneous Chandra X-ray Observatory
spectra. Taking advantage of the low UV continuum and broad emission-line
fluxes, we have determined that the deepest UV absorption component covers at
least a portion of the inner, high-ionization narrow-line region (NLR). We find
nonunity covering factors in the cores of several kinematic components, which
increase the column density measurements of N V and C IV by factors of 1.2 to
1.9 over the full-covering case; however, the revised columns have only a minor
effect on the parameters derived from our photoionization models. For the first
time, we have simultaneous N V and C IV columns for component 1 (at -1040
km/s), and find that this component cannot be an X-ray warm absorber, contrary
to our previous claim based on nonsimultaneous observations. We find that
models of the absorbers based on solar abundances severely overpredict the O VI
columns previously obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectrograph, and present
arguments that this is not likely due to variability. However, models that
include either enhanced nitrogen (twice solar) or dust, with strong depletion
of carbon in either case, are successful in matching all of the observed ionic
columns. These models result in substantially lower ionization parameters and
total column densities compared to dust-free solar-abundance models, and
produce little O VII or O VIII, indicating that none of the UV absorbers are
X-ray warm absorbers.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figures (Figures 3 and 4 are in color), Accepted for
publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Simultaneous X-ray and UV spectroscopy of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548.II. Physical conditions in the X-ray absorber
We present the results from a 500 ks Chandra observation of the Seyfert 1
galaxy NGC 5548. We detect broadened emission lines of O VII and C VI in the
spectra, similar to those observed in the optical and UV bands. The source was
continuously variable, with a 30 % increase in luminosity in the second half of
the observation. No variability in the warm absorber was detected between the
spectra from the first 170 ks and the second part of the observation. The
velocity structure of the X-ray absorber is consistent with the velocity
structure measured simultaneously in the ultraviolet spectra. We find that the
highest velocity outflow component, at -1040 km/s, becomes increasingly
important for higher ionization parameters. This velocity component spans at
least three orders of magnitude in ionization parameter, producing both highly
ionized X-ray absorption lines (Mg XII, Si XIV) as well as UV absorption lines.
A similar conclusion is very probable for the other four velocity components.
Based upon our observations, we argue that the warm absorber probably does not
manifest itself in the form of photoionized clumps in pressure equilibrium with
a surrounding wind. Instead, a model with a continuous distribution of column
density versus ionization parameter gives an excellent fit to our data. From
the shape of this distribution and the assumption that the mass loss through
the wind should be smaller than the accretion rate onto the black hole, we
derive upper limits to the solid angle as small as 10^{-4} sr. From this we
argue that the outflow occurs in density-stratified streamers. The density
stratification across the stream then produces the wide range of ionization
parameter observed in this source. Abridged.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures accepted for publication in A&
Chemical Abundances in AGN Environment: X-Ray/UV Campaign on the MRK 279 Outflow
We present the first reliable determination of chemical abundances in an AGN
outflow. The abundances are extracted from the deep and simultaneous FUSE and
HST/STIS observations of Mrk 279. This data set is exceptional for its high
signal-to-noise, unblended doublet troughs and little Galactic absorption
contamination. These attributes allow us to solve for the velocity-dependent
covering fraction, and therefore obtain reliable column densities for many
ionic species. For the first time we have enough such column densities to
simultaneously determine the ionization equilibrium and abundances in the flow.
Our analysis uses the full spectral information embedded in these
high-resolution data. Slicing a given trough into many independent outflow
elements yields the extra constraints needed for a physically meaningful
abundances determination. We find that relative to solar the abundances in the
Mrk 279 outflow are (linear scaling): carbon 2.2+/-0.7, nitrogen 3.5+/-1.1 and
oxygen 1.6+/-0.8. Our UV-based photoionization and abundances results are in
good agreement with the independent analysis of the simultaneous Mrk 279 X-ray
spectra. This is the best agreement between the UV and X-ray analyses of the
same outflow to date.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures, accepted on 29 Nov 2006 for publication in the
ApJ (submission date: 27 Jul 2006
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