4,741 research outputs found
NuSTAR Hard X-ray View of Low-luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei: High-energy Cutoff and Truncated Thin Disk
We report the analysis of simultaneous XMM-Newton+NuSTAR observations of two
low-luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei (LLAGN), NGC 3998 and NGC 4579. We do not
detect any significant variability in either source over the ~3 day length of
the NuSTAR observations. The broad-band 0.5-60 keV spectrum of NGC 3998 is best
fit with a cutoff power-law, while the one for NGC 4579 is best fit with a
combination of a hot thermal plasma model, a power-law, and a blend of
Gaussians to fit an Fe complex observed between 6 and 7 keV. Our main spectral
results are the following: (1) neither source shows any reflection hump with a
reflection fraction upper-limits and for NGC 3998
and NGC 4579, respectively; (2) the 6-7 keV line complex in NGC 4579 could
either be fit with a narrow Fe K line at 6.4 keV and a moderately broad Fe XXV
line, or 3 relatively narrow lines, which includes contribution from Fe XXVI;
(3) NGC 4579 flux is 60% brighter than previously detected with XMM-Newton,
accompanied by a hardening in the spectrum; (4) we measure a cutoff energy
keV in NGC 3998, which represents the lowest and
best constrained high-energy cutoff ever measured for an LLAGN; (5) NGC 3998
spectrum is consistent with a Comptonization model with either a sphere
() or slab () geometry, corresponding
to plasma temperatures between 20 and 150 keV. We discuss these results in the
context of hard X-ray emission from bright AGN, other LLAGN, and hot accretion
flow models.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in Ap
Electrostatic Contribution of Surface Charge Residues to the Stability of a Thermophilic Protein: Benchmarking Experimental and Predicted pKa Values
Optimization of the surface charges is a promising strategy for increasing thermostability of proteins. Electrostatic contribution of ionizable groups to the protein stability can be estimated from the differences between the pKa values in the folded and unfolded states of a protein. Using this pKa-shift approach, we experimentally measured the electrostatic contribution of all aspartate and glutamate residues to the stability of a thermophilic ribosomal protein L30e from Thermococcus celer. The pKa values in the unfolded state were found to be similar to model compound pKas. The pKa values in both the folded and unfolded states obtained at 298 and 333 K were similar, suggesting that electrostatic contribution of ionizable groups to the protein stability were insensitive to temperature changes. The experimental pKa values for the L30e protein in the folded state were used as a benchmark to test the robustness of pKa prediction by various computational methods such as H++, MCCE, MEAD, pKD, PropKa, and UHBD. Although the predicted pKa values were affected by crystal contacts that may alter the side-chain conformation of surface charged residues, most computational methods performed well, with correlation coefficients between experimental and calculated pKa values ranging from 0.49 to 0.91 (p<0.01). The changes in protein stability derived from the experimental pKa-shift approach correlate well (râ=â0.81) with those obtained from stability measurements of charge-to-alanine substituted variants of the L30e protein. Our results demonstrate that the knowledge of the pKa values in the folded state provides sufficient rationale for the redesign of protein surface charges leading to improved protein stability
A ROSAT HRI survey of bright nearby galaxies
We use the extensive public archive of ROSAT High Resolution Imager (HRI)
observations to carry out a statistical investigation of the X-ray properties
of nearby galaxies. Specifically we focus on the sample of 486 bright (B_T <
12.5) northern galaxies studied by Ho, Filippenko and Sargent (HFS) in the
context of their exploration of the optical spectroscopic properties of nearby
galactic nuclei. Over 20% of HFS galaxies are encompassed in ROSAT HRI fields
of reasonable (> 10ks) exposure. The X-ray sources detected within the optical
extent of each galaxy are categorised as either nuclear or non-nuclear
depending on whether the source is positioned within or outside of a 25
arcsecond radius circle centred on the optical nucleus. A nuclear X-ray source
is detected in over 70% of the galaxies harbouring either a Seyfert or LINER
nucleus compared to a detection rate of only ~40% in less active systems. The
correlation of the H alpha luminosity with nuclear X-ray luminosity previously
observed in QSOs and bright Seyfert 1 galaxies appears to extend down into the
regime of ultra-low luminosity (L(x)~10^38 - 10^40 erg/s) active galactic
nuclei (AGN). The inferred accretion rates for this sample of low-luminosity
AGN are significantly sub-Eddington. In total 142 non-nuclear sources were
detected. In combination with published data for M31 this leads to a luminosity
distribution (normalised to an optical blue luminosity of L(B) = 10^10
L(solar)) for the discrete X-ray source population in spiral galaxies of the
form dN/dL38 = 1.0 +/- 0.2 L38^-1.8, where L38 is the X-ray luminosity in units
of 10^38 erg/s. The implied L(x)/L(B) ratio is ~1.1 x 10^39 erg/s/(10^10
L(solar)). The nature of the substantial number of ``super-luminous''
non-nuclear objects detected in the survey is discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Also
available from http://www.star.le.ac.uk/~tro/papers/xhfs.p
Three-dimensional ring current decay model
This work is an extension of a previous ring current decay model. In the previous work, a two-dimensional kinetic model was constructed to study the temporal variations of the equatorially mirroring ring current ions, considering charge exchange and Coulomb drag losses along drift paths in a magnetic dipole field. In this work, particles with arbitrary pitch angle are considered. By bounce averaging the kinetic equation of the phase space density, information along magnetic field lines can be inferred from the equator. The three-dimensional model is used to simulate the recovery phase of a model great magnetic storm, similar to that which occurred in early February 1986. The initial distribution of ring current ions (at the minimum Dst) is extrapolated to all local times from AMPTE/CCE spacecraft observations on the dawnside and duskside of the inner magnetosphere spanning the L value range L = 2.25 to 6.75. Observations by AMPTE/CCE of ring current distributions over subsequent orbits during the storm recovery phase are compared to model outputs. In general, the calculated ion fluxes are consistent with observations, except for H(+) fluxes at tens of keV, which are always overestimated. A newly invented visualization idea, designated as a chromogram, is used to display the spatial and energy dependence of the ring current ion differential flux. Important features of storm time ring current, such as day-night asymmetry during injection and drift hole on the dayside at low energies (less than 10 keV), are manifested in the chromogram representation. The pitch angle distribution is well fit by the function, J(sub o)(1 + Ay(sup n)), where y is sine of the equatorial pitch angle. The evolution of the index n is a combined effect of charge exchange loss and particle drift. At low energies (less than 30 keV), both drift dispersion and charge exchange are important in determining n
A three-dimensional ring current decay model
This work is an extension of a previous ring current decay model. In the previous work, a two-dimensional kinetic model was constructed to study the temporal variations of the equatorially mirroring ring current ions, considering charge exchange and Coulomb drag losses along drift paths in a magnetic dipole field. In this work, particles with arbitrary pitch angle are considered. By bounce averaging the kinetic equation of the phase space density, information along magnetic field lines can be inferred from the equator. The three-dimensional model is used to simulate the recovery phase of a model great magnetic storm, similar to that which occurred in early February 1986. The initial distribution of ring current ions (at the minimum Dst) is extrapolated to all local times from AMPTE/CCE spacecraft observations on the dawn and dusk sides of the inner magnetosphere spanning the L value range L = 2.25 to 6.75. Observations by AMPTE/CCE of ring current distributions over subsequent orbits during the storm recovery phase are compared to model outputs. In general, the calculated ion fluxes are consistent with observations, except for H+ fluxes at tens of keV, which are always over-estimated. A newly-invented visualization idea, designated as a chromogram, is used to display the spatial and energy dependence of the ring current ion differential flux. Important features of storm-time ring current, such as day-night asymmetry during injection and drift hole on the dayside at low energies (less than 10 keV), are manifested in the chromogram representation. The pitch angle distribution is well fit by the function, j(sub o)(1+Ay(exp n)), where y is sine of the equatorial pitch angle. The evolution of the index n is a combined effect of charge exchange loss and particle drift. At low energies (less than 30 keV), both drift dispersion and charge exchange are important in determining n
X-ray absorption and rapid variability of the dwarf Seyfert nucleus of NGC4395
We report the detection of an absorbed central X-ray source and its strong,
rapid variability in NGC4395, the least luminous Seyfert nucleus known. The
X-ray source exhibits a number of flares with factors of 3-4 flux changes
during a half day ASCA observation. Such X-ray variability is in constrast to
the behaviour of other low luminosity active galaxies. It provides further
support for an accreting black hole model rather than an extreme stellar
process in accounting for the nuclear activity of NGC4395. The soft X-ray
emission below 3 keV is strongly attenuated by absorption. The energy spectrum
in this absorption band shows a dramatic change in response to the variation in
continuum luminosity. A variable warm absorber appears to be an explanation for
the spectral change. The absorption-corrected 2-10 keV luminosity is 4e39 erg/s
for a source distance of 2.6 Mpc, and at 1 keV is one order of magnitude above
previous ROSAT estimates. Our X-ray results infer the nuclear source of NGC4395
to be a scaled-down version of higher luminosity Seyfert nuclei, with an
intermediate mass (10^4-10^5 Msun) black hole, unlike the nearby low luminosity
active galaxies in which underfed massive black holes are suspected to reside.Comment: 12 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA
X-ray Spectral Survey with XMM--Newton of a Complete Sample of Nearby Seyfert Galaxies
Results obtained from an X-ray spectral survey of nearby Seyfert galaxies
using XMM--Newton are reported. The sample was optically selected, well
defined, complete in B mag, and distance limited: it consists of the nearest
(D<22 Mpc) 27 Seyfert galaxies (9 of type 1, 18 of type 2) taken from the Ho et
al. (1997) sample. This is one of the largest atlases of hard X-ray spectra of
low-L active galaxies ever assembled. All nuclear sources except two Sey 2s are
detected between 2-10 keV, half for the first time ever, and average spectra
are obtained for all of them. Nuclear luminosities reach values down to 10**38
erg/s. The shape of the distribution of X-ray parameters is affected by the
presence of Compton-thick objects (> 30% among type 2s). The latter have been
identified either directly from their intense FeK line and flat X-ray spectra,
or indirectly with flux diagnostic diagrams which use isotropic indicators.
After taking into account these highly absorbed sources, we find that (i) the
intrinsic X-ray spectral properties (i.e., spectral shapes and luminosities
above 2 keV) are consistent between type 1 and type 2 Sey, as expected from
``unified models'', (ii) Sey galaxies as a whole are distributed fairly
continuously over the entire range of Nh, between 10**20 and 10**25 cm**-2, and
(iii) while Sey 1s tend to have lower Nh and Sey 2s tend to have the highest,
we find 30% and 10% exceptions, respectively. Overall the sample well
represents the average intrinsic X-ray spectral properties of nearby AGN,
including a proper estimate of the distribution of their absorbing columns.
Finally, we conclude that, with the exception of a few cases, the present study
agrees with predictions of unified models of Sey galaxies, and extends their
validity down to very low luminosities.Comment: 23 pages, 4 tables, 4 figures, 2 Appendices with 27 source spectra
and notes, to be published in the Astronomy & Astrophysics Journa
Highly ionized Fe K emission lines from the LINER galaxy M 81
We present spectral and timing results from a long (130 ks) XMM-NEWTON EPIC
observation of the nucleus of the Seyfert/LINER galaxy M 81. During the
observation the X-ray flux varied by 20%, but there was no significant change
in spectral shape. The 2-10 keV spectrum is well described by a power law
continuum and three narrow Fe K emission lines at 6.4, 6.7 and 6.96 keV. The
three emission lines have equivalent widths of 39, 47, and 37 eV respectively.
The ratios of the three lines are thus more similar to those observed from the
Galactic Centre region than to those typically observed from Seyfert galaxies.
The high ionization lines most likely originate either from photoionized gas
within 0.1 pc of the nucleus of M 81, or from a non-thermal distribution of
cosmic-ray electrons interacting with the 0.2-0.6 keV thermal plasma which is
found in the bulge of M 81.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
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