scholarly journals Gamma-ray-emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies: the Swift view

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (2) ◽  
pp. 2213-2229 ◽  
Author(s):  
F D’Ammando

ABSTRACT We report the analysis of all Swift observations available up to 2019 April of γ-ray-emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLSy1). The distribution of X-ray luminosities (and fluxes) indicates that the jet radiation significantly contributes to their X-ray emission, with Doppler boosting making values higher than other radio-loud NLSy1. The 0.3–10 keV photon indices are on average harder with respect to radio-quiet and radio-loud NLSy1, confirming a dominant jet contribution in X-rays. However, the lower variability amplitude with respect to blazars and the softening of the spectrum in some periods suggests that also the corona radiation contributes to the X-ray emission. In optical and ultraviolet (UV) significant flux changes have been observed on daily, weekly, and monthly time-scale, providing a clear indication of the significant contribution of the jet radiation in this part of spectrum. A strong correlation between X-ray, UV, and optical emission and simultaneous flux variations have been observed in 1H 0323+342, SBS 0846+513, PMN J0948+0022 as expected in case the jet radiation is the dominant mechanism. Correlated multiband variability favours the jet-dominated scenario also in FBQS J1644+2619 and PKS 2004−447. The summed X-ray Telescope spectra of 1H 0323+342, SBS 0846+513, PMN J0948+0022, and FBQS J1644+2619 are well fitted by a broken power law with a break around 2 keV. The spectrum above 2 keV is dominated by the non-thermal emission from a beamed relativistic jet, as suggested by the hard photon index. A Seyfert-like feature like the soft X-ray excess has been observed below 2 keV, making these γ-ray-emitting NLSy1 different from typical blazars.

Author(s):  
D A Zyuzin ◽  
A V Karpova ◽  
Y A Shibanov ◽  
A Y Potekhin ◽  
V F Suleimanov

Abstract We analyze new XMM-Newton and archival Chandra observations of the middle-aged γ-ray radio-quiet pulsar J1957+5033. We detect, for the first time, X-ray pulsations with the pulsar spin period of the point-like source coinciding by position with the pulsar. This confirms the pulsar nature of the source. In the 0.15–0.5 keV band, there is a single pulse per period and the pulsed fraction is ≈18 ± 6 per cent. In this band, the pulsar spectrum is dominated by a thermal emission component that likely comes from the entire surface of the neutron star, while at higher energies (≳ 0.7 keV) it is described by a power law with the photon index Γ ≈ 1.6. We construct new hydrogen atmosphere models for neutron stars with dipole magnetic fields and non-uniform surface temperature distributions with relatively low effective temperatures. We use them in the spectral analysis and derive the pulsar average effective temperature of ≈(2 − 3) × 105 K. This makes J1957+5033 the coldest among all known thermally emitting neutron stars with ages below 1 Myr. Using the interstellar extinction–distance relation, we constrain the distance to the pulsar in the range of 0.1–1 kpc. We compare the obtained X-ray thermal luminosity with those for other neutron stars and various neutron star cooling models and set some constraints on latter. We observe a faint trail-like feature, elongated ∼8 arcmin from J1957+5033. Its spectrum can be described by a power law with a photon index Γ = 1.9 ± 0.5 suggesting that it is likely a pulsar wind nebula powered by J1957+5033.


2019 ◽  
Vol 632 ◽  
pp. A120 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Berton ◽  
V. Braito ◽  
S. Mathur ◽  
L. Foschini ◽  
E. Piconcelli ◽  
...  

Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) is one of the few classes of active galactic nuclei harboring powerful relativistic jets and detected in γ-rays. NLS1s are well-known X-ray sources. While in non-jetted sources the origin of this X-ray emission may be a hot corona surrounding the accretion disk, in jetted objects, especially beamed ones, the contribution of corona and relativistic jet is difficult to disentangle without a proper sampling of the hard X-ray emission. For this reason, we observed with NuSTAR the first four NLS1s detected at high energy γ-rays. These data, along with XMM-Newton and Swift/XRT observations, confirmed that X-rays originate both in the jet and in the accretion disk corona. Time variability in hard X-rays furthermore suggests that, as observed in flat-spectrum radio quasars, the dissipation region during flares could change its position from source to source, and it can be located both inside and outside the broad-line region. We find that jetted NLS1s, and other blazars as well, seem not to follow the classical fundamental plane of black hole (BH) activity, which therefore should be used as a BH mass estimator in blazars with extreme care only. Our results strengthen the idea according to which γ-NLS1s are smaller and younger version of flat-spectrum radio quasars, in which both a Seyfert and a blazar component co-exist.


2019 ◽  
Vol 622 ◽  
pp. A211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Coti Zelati ◽  
Alessandro Papitto ◽  
Domitilla de Martino ◽  
David A. H. Buckley ◽  
Alida Odendaal ◽  
...  

We report on a multi-wavelength study of the unclassified X-ray source CXOU J110926.4−650224 (J1109). We identified the optical counterpart as a blue star with a magnitude of ∼20.1 (3300–10500 Å). The optical emission was variable on timescales from hundreds to thousands of seconds. The spectrum showed prominent emission lines with variable profiles at different epochs. Simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations revealed a bimodal distribution of the X-ray count rates on timescales as short as tens of seconds, as well as sporadic flaring activity. The average broad-band (0.3–79 keV) spectrum was adequately described by an absorbed power law model with photon index of Γ = 1.63  ±  0.01 (at 1σ c.l.), and the X-ray luminosity was (2.16  ±  0.04)  ×  1034 erg s−1 for a distance of 4 kpc. Based on observations with different instruments, the X-ray luminosity has remained relatively steady over the past ∼15 years. J1109 is spatially associated with the gamma-ray source FL8Y J1109.8−6500, which was detected with Fermi at an average luminosity of (1.5  ±  0.2)  ×  1034 erg s−1 (assuming the distance of J1109) over the 0.1–300 GeV energy band between 2008 and 2016. The source was undetected during ATCA radio observations that were simultaneous with NuSTAR, down to a 3σ flux upper limit of 18 μJy beam−1 (at 7.25 GHz). We show that the phenomenological properties of J1109 point to a binary transitional pulsar candidate currently in a sub-luminous accretion disk state, and that the upper limits derived for the radio emission are consistent with the expected radio luminosity for accreting neutron stars at similar X-ray luminosities.


Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Ka-Wah Wong ◽  
Rodrigo S. Nemmen ◽  
Jimmy A. Irwin ◽  
Dacheng Lin

The nearby M87 hosts an exceptional relativistic jet. It has been regularly monitored in radio to TeV bands, but little has been done in hard X-rays ≳10 keV. For the first time, we have successfully detected hard X-rays up to 40 keV from its X-ray core with joint Chandra and NuSTAR observations, providing important insights to the X-ray origins: from the unresolved jet or the accretion flow. We found that the hard X-ray emission is significantly lower than that predicted by synchrotron self-Compton models introduced to explain very-high-energy γ -ray emission above a GeV. We discuss recent models to understand these high energy emission processes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 488 (4) ◽  
pp. 5935-5940 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Aksaker ◽  
A Akyuz ◽  
S Avdan ◽  
H Avdan

ABSTRACT We present the results of a search for optical counterparts of ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) X-1 in the nearby galaxy NGC 2500 by using archival images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera (WFC3)/UVIS. We identified four optical sources as possible counterparts within the 2σ error radius of 0$^{\prime \prime }_{.}$3 in the images. However, only two of them were investigated as candidates for counterparts due to their point-like features and their identification in various filters. These two faint candidates have absolute magnitudes of MV ≈ −3.4 and −3.7. The spectral energy distributions of two candidates were modelled by a power-law spectrum with a photon index (α) ∼1.5, but the spectrum of one candidate shows a deviation. This may suggest that at least two components are responsible for the optical emission. The red part of the spectrum could arise from the companion star and the blue part could be interpreted as an evidence of reprocessing of the X-rays from the disc.


2020 ◽  
Vol 497 (2) ◽  
pp. 2352-2370 ◽  
Author(s):  
G A Matzeu ◽  
E Nardini ◽  
M L Parker ◽  
J N Reeves ◽  
V Braito ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present joint XMM–Newton and 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 Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) spectrum, while the moderately broad Fe K line and the modest hard excess above 10 keV appear to arise in a milder gravity regime. By allowing a different origin of the soft excess, the broad-band X-ray spectrum and overall spectral energy distribution (SED) are well explained by a combination of (a) direct thermal emission from the accretion disc, dominating from the optical to the far/extreme UV; (b) Comptonization of seed disc photons by a warm (kTe ∼ 0.3 keV) and optically thick (τ ∼ 10) corona, mostly contributing to the soft X-rays; (c) Comptonization by a standard hot ($kT_{\rm \mathrm{ e}}\gtrsim 100$ keV) and optically thin (τ < 0.5) corona, responsible for the primary X-ray continuum; and (d) reflection from the mid/outer part of the disc. The two coronae are suggested to be rather compact, with $R_{\rm hot}\lesssim R_{\rm warm}\lesssim 10\, r_{\rm g}$. Our SED analysis implies that Ton S180 accretes at super-Eddington rates. This is a key condition for the launch of a wind, marginal (i.e. 3.1σ significance) evidence of which is indeed found in the RGS spectrum.


2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-76
Author(s):  
Nikita Salvi ◽  
Mat J. Page ◽  
Jason A. Stevens ◽  
Keith O. Mason ◽  
Kinwah Wu

AbstractIII Zw2 was observed with XMM-Newton in July 2000. Its X-ray spectrum can be described by a power law of photon index Γ≈1.7 with a Gaussian line at 6.7 KeV. There is no significant evidence of intrinsic absorption within the source or of a soft X-ray excess. Multi-wavelength light curves over a period of 25 years show related variations from the radio to X-rays. We interpret the radio to optical emission as synchrotron radiation, self-absorbed in the radio/millimetre region, and the X-rays as mainly due to Compton up-scattering of low energy photons by the population of high energy electrons that give rise to the synchrotron radiation.


2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 1955-1959 ◽  
Author(s):  
EN-WEI LIANG ◽  
HOUJUN LÜ ◽  
SHUANG-XI YI ◽  
BING ZHANG ◽  
BIN-BIN ZHANG ◽  
...  

We prove that both the canonical and single power-law decay X-ray afterglow lightcurves of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed with the Swift X-ray telescope may be an emission component radiated by external shocks prior to the GRB trigger. Our systematical analysis on both the early optical and X-ray afterglow data also indicates that they might be from different components. The detected optical emission possibly is dominated by the afterglow of the GRB fireball. The X-ray afterglows may be detected for some GRBs, but most of the detected X-rays for most GRBs are likely dominated by the prior X-ray component. With the deceleration feature in the early optical afterglow data, we estimate the initial Lorentz factors of the GRBs and discover a tight relation of the Lorentz factor to the isotropic gamma-ray energy.


2012 ◽  
Vol 08 ◽  
pp. 132-137
Author(s):  
VÍCTOR ZABALZA ◽  
VALENTÍ BOSCH-RAMON ◽  
JOSEP MARIA PAREDES

Gamma-ray binaries are binary systems that show non-thermal broadband emission from radio to gamma rays. If the system comprises a massive star and a young non-accreting pulsar, their winds collide producing non-thermal emission, most likely from the shocked pulsar wind. Thermal X-rays are expected from the shocked stellar wind, with a spectrum akin to the one observed in massive star binaries. The goal of this work is, through the study of the thermal X-ray emission from the shocked stellar wind in pulsar gamma-ray binaries, constrain the pulsar spin-down luminosity and the stellar wind properties. A semi-analytic model is developed to compute the thermal X-ray emission from the shocked stellar wind in pulsar gamma-ray binaries. The model results are compared with XMM-Newton observations of LS 5039, a candidate pulsar gamma-ray binary with a strong stellar wind. Exploring the range of possible values for the stellar mass-loss rate and orbital inclination, we obtain an upper limit on the pulsar spin-down luminosity of 6 × 1036 erg s-1. We conclude that, to explain the non-thermal luminosity of LS 5039 in the pulsar wind scenario, a non-thermal to spin-down luminosity ratio very close to unity may be required.


2003 ◽  
Vol 214 ◽  
pp. 299-302
Author(s):  
Ben-Zhong Dai

We selected a sample of bright γ-ray (E>100 MeV) blazars whose X-rays in 0.1–10.0 keV band are observed by ROSAT and other X-ray satellites, and make a detailed spectral analysis between the soft (0.1–2.0 keV) and hard band (2.0–10.0keV) as well as between X-ray and γ-ray properties using both un-weighted and weighted analysis methods. Our results indicate: (i) there are significant anti-correlations of the spectral indices between soft X-rays and γ-rays, and between hard X-ray and γ-ray of flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and BL Lac objects; (ii) in the X-ray band, the correlation is confusing, there is positive correlation of the spectral indices between soft and hard X-ray band using weighted correlation analysis, but this correlation is negative using un-weighted correlation analysis.


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