scholarly journals The inner view of NGC 1052 using multiple X-ray observations

2019 ◽  
Vol 491 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Osorio-Clavijo ◽  
O González-Martín ◽  
I E Papadakis ◽  
J Masegosa ◽  
L Hernández-García
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Spectral Slope ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Band Power ◽  
Neutral Material ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Epoch Analysis ◽  
First Time ◽  
Reflection Component

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present a multi-epoch analysis of NGC 1052, a prototypical low-luminisity active galactic nucleus, using XMM–Newton, Suzaku and NuSTAR observations taken from 2001 to 2017. This is the first time that results from NuSTAR observations have been reported for NGC 1052. Regarding technical aspects, we found a wavelength-dependent calibration issue between simultaneous XMM–Newton and NuSTAR spectra, characterized by a change in the photon index of $\rm { \Gamma _{NuSTAR}- \Gamma _{XMM-Newton}=0.17\pm 0.04}$. We use ancillary Chandra data to decontaminate the nuclear spectrum from circumnuclear contributors. We find that two baseline models can fit the broad (0.5–50 keV) X-ray spectrum of the source. One consists of a power-law-like continuum that is absorbed by a uniform absorber, and is reflected by neutral material, and a separate power-law component in the soft band. The second model consists of a clumpy absorber. The reflection component is still present, but not the soft-band power law. Instead, absorption by a warm absorber is necessary to fit the spectra. This is the first time that a reflection component has been established in this object, thanks to high-energy data from NuSTAR. This component is constant in flux and shape, supporting the idea that it is produced away from the central source (probably in the torus). We find flux, spectral slope and absorption variations on time-scales of months to years. We also find that a patchy absorber can explain the behaviour of this source better, as it is ∼200 times more likely than the uniform absorber and yields smaller intrinsic variations.

scholarly journals X-ray Properties of 3C 111: Separation of Primary Nuclear Emission and Jet Continuum

Universe ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 219
Author(s):  
Elena Fedorova ◽  
B.I. Hnatyk ◽  
V.I. Zhdanov ◽  
A. Del Popolo
Keyword(s):  
Accretion Disk ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Line Emission ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Power Law Model ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Observational Dataset ◽  
Simple Power ◽  
Photon Index

3C111 is BLRG with signatures of both FSRQ and Sy1 in X-ray spectrum. The significant X-ray observational dataset was collected for it by INTEGRAL, XMM-Newton, SWIFT, Suzaku and others. The overall X-ray spectrum of 3C 111 shows signs of a peculiarity with the large value of the high-energy cut-off typical rather for RQ AGN, probably due to the jet contamination. Separating the jet counterpart in the X-ray spectrum of 3C 111 from the primary nuclear counterpart can answer the question is this nucleus truly peculiar or this is a fake “peculiarity” due to a significant jet contribution. In view of this question, our aim is to estimate separately the accretion disk/corona and non-thermal jet emission in the 3C 111 X-ray spectra within different observational periods. To separate the disk/corona and jet contributions in total continuum, we use the idea that radio and X-ray spectra of jet emission can be described by a simple power-law model with the same photon index. This additional information allows us to derive rather accurate values of these contributions. In order to test these results, we also consider relations between the nuclear continuum and the line emission.

scholarly journals Modelling the Soft X-ray Excess in E1615+061

1994 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 317-317
Author(s):  
M. Bałucińska-Church ◽  
L. Piro ◽  
H. Fink ◽  
F. Fiore ◽  
M. Matsuoka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Column Density ◽  
High Energy ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Hard Component ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Simple Power ◽  
High Energy Tail ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Best Fit

SummaryWe report results of an international UV – X-ray campaign in 1990–1992 involving the IUE, Rosat and Ginga satellites to observe E1615+061, a Seyfert 1 galaxy with peculiar spectral and intensity behaviour over the last 20 years. The source has been found to be stable in its medium state during the observations. The Ginga (1–20 keV) spectrum of E1615+061 is adequately represented by a simple power law with a photon index α = 1.8 ± 0.1. However, α ∼ 2, as expected for the intrinsic power law component in a reflection model, cannot be ruled out statistically. The Rosat PSPC (0.1–2 keV) spectra collected during the All Sky Survey and the AO-1 phase can be well-described by a simple power law (α = 2.2 ± 0.1) with cold absorber (NH = 3.5 ± 0.3 · 10λ20 H/cmλ2). Both the photon index being significantly different than that obtained from the Ginga spectrum and the column density being smaller than the galactic column (NH ∼ 4.2 · 10λ20 H/cmλ2) give an indication of a soft excess over and above the hard component seen in the Ginga spectrum. E1615+061 has been observed with IUE in 1990 and in 1992. The source was stable and the colour excess E(B-V) derived from the data = 0.1 is in good agreement with that expected from the galactic absorption.To parameterise the soft excess we fitted the Rosat data with a two-component model consisting of a power law, and a blackbody or thermal bremsstrahlung, with a single galactic absorption term. The column density and the slope of the power law were kept constant. The blackbody temperature was 80 ± 6 eV and 63 ± 12 eV for photon index equal to 1.8 and 2.0, respectively, whereas the bremsstrahlung temperature was 220 ± 40 eV and 115 ± 30 eV for the two cases.An attempt to model the soft excess seen in the Rosat PSPC spectrum has been made assuming that the soft excess is the high energy tail of a disc spectrum which peaks in the UV part of the spectrum. Additionally it was assumed that there is a hard component contributing to the spectrum from UV to X-rays with parameters as described by the Ginga spectrum. The best fit parameters: the mass of the central source and the mass accretion rate were around 5 ± 1 · 10λ6 M⊙ and 0.2 ± 0.04 M⊙/yr, respectively.Our modelling shows that the soft X-ray excess can be described (χredλ2 < 1.2) as the high energy tail of an accretion disk spectrum if the intrinsic power law is quite steep (α = 2). The main contribution to the residuals in the Rosat PSPC range comes from 0.3–0.6 keV, with a tendency for these residuals to increase when the slope gets flatter. The accretion luminosity is ∼ 6.5 · 10λ44 erg/s for the best fit parameters, i.e. about the Eddington luminosity.

scholarly journals Energy distribution of relativistic electrons in the kiloparsec scale jet of M 87 with Chandra

2018 ◽  
Vol 612 ◽  
pp. A106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Na Sun ◽  
Rui-Zhi Yang ◽  
Frank M. Rieger ◽  
Ruo-Yu Liu ◽  
Felix Aharonian
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Broad Band ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Relativistic Electrons ◽  
Complex Situation ◽  
Satisfactory Description ◽  
X Ray ◽  
General Decline ◽  
Photon Index

The X-ray emission from the jets in active galactic nuclei (AGN) carries important information on the distributions of relativistic electrons and magnetic fields on large scales. We reanalysed archival Chandra observations on the jet of M 87 from 2000 to 2016 with a total exposure of 1460 kiloseconds to explore the X-ray emission characteristics along the jet. We investigated the variability behaviours of the nucleus and the inner jet component HST-1, and confirm indications for day-scale X-ray variability in the nucleus contemporaneous to the 2010 high TeV γ-ray state. HST-1 shows a general decline in X-ray flux over the last few years consistent with its synchrotron interpretation. We extracted the X-ray spectra for the nucleus and all knots in the jet, showing that they are compatible with a single power law within the X-ray band. There are indications that the resultant X-ray photon index exhibit a trend, with slight but significant index variations ranging from ≃ 2.2 (e.g. in knot D) to ≃ 2.4−2.6 (in the outer knots F, A, and B). When viewed in a multiwavelength context, a more complex situation can be seen. Fitting the radio to X-ray spectral energy distributions (SEDs) assuming a synchrotron origin, we show that a broken power-law electron spectrum with break energy Eb around 1 (300 μG/B)1/2 TeV allows a satisfactory description of the multiband SEDs for most of the knots. However, in the case of knots B, C, and D we find indications that an additional high-energy component is needed to adequately reproduce the broad-band SEDs. We discuss the implications and suggest that a stratified jet model may account for the differences.

scholarly journals NuSTAR observations of heavily obscured Swift/BAT AGNs: Constraints on the Compton-thick AGNs fraction

2019 ◽  
Vol 621 ◽  
pp. A28 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Georgantopoulos ◽  
A. Akylas
Keyword(s):  
High Energy ◽  
Selection Function ◽  
Number Density ◽  
Local Universe ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Very High Energy ◽  
History Of ◽  
X Ray Background ◽  
Reflection Component

The evolution of the accretion history of the Universe has been studied in unprecedented detail owing to recent X-ray surveys performed by Chandra and XMM-Newton. A focus on the most heavily obscured or Compton-thick active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is missing in these studies. These AGNs evade detection even in X-ray surveys owing to their extreme hydrogen column densities, which exceed 1024 cm−2. Recently, the all-sky hard X-ray survey performed by Swift/BAT brought a breakthrough, allowing the detection of many of these AGNs. This is because of the very high energy bandpass (14–195 keV) of this instrument, which helps to minimise attenuation effects. In our previous work, we identified more than 50 candidate Compton-thick AGNs in the local Universe, corresponding to an observed fraction of about 7% of the total AGNs population. This number can only be converted to the intrinsic Compton-thick AGNs number density if we know their exact selection function. This function sensitively depends on the form of the Compton-thick AGN spectrum, that is the energy of their absorption turnover, photon-index and its cut-off energy at high energies, and the strength of the reflection component on the matter surrounding the nucleus. For example, the reflection component at hard energies 20–40 keV antagonises the number density of missing Compton-thick AGNs in the sense that the stronger the reflection the easier these sources are detected in the BAT band. In order to constrain their number density, we analysed the spectra of 19 Compton-thick AGNs that have been detected with Swift/BAT and have been subsequently observed with NuSTAR in the 3–80 keV band. We analysed their X-ray spectra using the MYTORUS models which properly take into account the Compton scattering effects. These were combined with physically motivated Comptonisation models, which accurately describe the primary coronal X-ray emission. We derived absorbing column densities that are consistent with those derived by the previous Swift/BAT analyses. We estimate the coronal temperatures to be roughly between 25 and 80 keV corresponding to high energy cut-offs roughly between 75 and 250 keV. Furthermore, we find that the majority of our AGNs lack a strong reflection component in the 20–40 keV band placing tighter constraints on the intrinsic fraction of Compton-thick AGNs. Combining these results with our X-ray background synthesis models, we estimate a percentage of Compton-thick AGNs in the local Universe of ≈20 ± 3 % relative to the type-II AGNs population.

scholarly journals High Energy Continuum Spectra from X-Ray Binaries

1997 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 41-52
Author(s):  
S.N. Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Surface Radiation ◽  
State Transitions ◽  
Hot Electron ◽  
Common Component ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Converging Flow ◽  
X Ray Binaries

AbstractA variety of high energy (>1 keV) spectra have been observed in recent years from Black Hole (BH) and Neutron Star (NS) X-ray Binaries (XB). Some common physical components exist between BHXBs and NSXBs, resulting in some high energy spectral features. A common component between a BHXB and a weakly magnetized NSXB is the inner accretion disk region extending very close to the surface (for a NS) or the horizon (for a BH). The inner disk radiation can be described by a multi-color blackbody (MCB) spectral model. The surface radiation of the NS can be approximated by a Single Color Blackbody (SCB) spectrum. For a strongly magnetized NSXB, the high energy emission is from its magnetosphere, characterised by a thermal bremsstrahlung (TB) spectrum. In both BHXBs and weakly magnetized NSXBs, a hot electron cloud may exist, producing the hard X-ray power law (photon index −1.5 to −2.0) with thermal cutoff (50–200 keV). It has been recently proposed that a converging flow may be formed near the horizon of a BH, producing a softer power law (photon index about −2.5) without cutoff up to several hundred keV. Based on these concepts we also discuss possible ways to distinguish between BH and NS XBs. Finally we discuss briefly spectral state transitions in both BH and NS XBs.

scholarly journals The Soft X-ray Excesses Observed by ROSAT

1994 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 338-338
Author(s):  
R. Walter ◽  
H.H. Fink
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Spectral Energy Distribution ◽  
Seyfert Galaxies ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Spectral Slope ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Object A ◽  
The Mean

The properties of the soft X-ray excesses of bright Seyfert 1 galaxies and Quasars are described using the observations obtained with the PSPC (0.1–2.4 keV) detector of the XRT telescope aboard ROSAT during the ROSAT all sky survey (RASS). The sample consists of 58 Seyfert 1 type AGN detected with more than 300 counts during the RASS and observed at least once with IUE.The soft X-ray photon indices of our sample members range from 1.6 to 3.4 in a wide distribution (< Γ > = 2.50, σ = 0.48). The width of the distribution is considerably larger than the mean statistical uncertainty on the individual spectral slopes (σ = 0.33). Excepting for IC 4329A and Mrk 766, the mean contribution of absorbing cold matter intrinsic to the Seyfert galaxies of our sample to the absorbing column density is less than 1020cm−2. In IC 4329A and Mrk 766 intrinsic absorbtion is observed at soft X-ray. Both sources are also strongly reddened by dust.An excess of soft X-ray flux is detected in 90% of the sources above the exptrapolation of the hard X-ray power law. It can be shown that the PSPC spectral slope is a measure of the strength of the soft X-ray excess. If the reddened sources are excluded, a correlation appears between the strength of the ultraviolet blue bump and the soft X-ray photon index (figure 1). The ratio of the ultraviolet to infrared fluxes and the ultraviolet spectral slope are also related to the strength of the blue bump. The observations are compatible with a model where most of the spectral variations arising among the sources studied are driven by the strength of the bump component, which varies by a factor of 100 from object to object. A bump model consisting of a power law with a high energy cutoff at 80 eV can fit most of the sources. In any case, the spectral energy distribution of the ultraviolet to soft X-ray bump is characterised by vFv(1375 Å) = (1–5) ∫ε > 150eVFεdε.

scholarly journals Soft X-ray Emission of Quasars

1994 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 373-373
Author(s):  
N. Schartel ◽  
R. Walter ◽  
H.H. Fink
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Spectral Band ◽  
Black Body ◽  
Spectral Slope ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Body Model ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
The Mean

From a list of known quasars compiled from various catalogues we selected all sources detected by the PSPC (0.1 – 2.4 keV) aboard ROSAT with more than 80 counts during the all sky survey. A sample of 102 sources resulted. At higher redshifts most of the selected sources are radio-loud. At a redshift smaller than 0.50 we found 54 radio-quiet quasars and 30 radio-loud sources. For this reduced sample the mean spectral index of the radio-quiet sources (< Γ > = 2.53) and that of the radio-loud ones (< Γ > = 2.26) are clearly different with a significance of 3.3 σ.About 2/3 of the bright quasars observed with Einstein also belong to our sample. The spectra observed with ROSAT are sytematically steeper than the ones observed with Einstein yielding a < ΓROSAT – ΓEinstein > of 0.66 ± 0.18 for radio quiet and of 0.68 ± 0.19 for radio-loud sources, respectively.For radio loud quasars, the mean spectral slope decreases from 2.3 to 1.5 when the redshift increases beyond 0.5 (figure 1). The fact that high redshift sources show a photon index of about 1.5, which is similar to the mean index observed with Einstein for radio-loud sources, suggests that this decrease towards higher redshifts can be interpreted by the shift of the soft X-ray excess outside of the ROSAT spectral band when the redshift increases. The solid lines in figure 1 represent theoretical pathes of the photon index as a function of the redshift as derived from simulations assuming a power law plus black body model spectrum for the quasars X-ray emission. In curve No 1 the powerlaw index is fixed to 1.4. To be compatible with the observation the temperature of the blackbody component must range between 50 and 70 eV. Curve No 2 asssumes the same model with a powerlaw index fixed to 1.8 to account for radio quiet sources.

scholarly journals Relations between phenomenological and physical parameters in the hot coronae of AGNs computed with the MoCA code

2019 ◽  
Vol 630 ◽  
pp. A131 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Middei ◽  
S. Bianchi ◽  
A. Marinucci ◽  
G. Matt ◽  
P.-O. Petrucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Monte Carlo Code ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Accretion Rates ◽  
Energy Cutoff ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Hot Corona ◽  
Black Hole Masses

Context. The primary X-ray emission in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is widely believed to be due to Comptonisation of the thermal radiation from the accretion disc in a corona of hot electrons. The resulting spectra can, in first approximation, be modelled with a cut-off power law, the photon index and the high-energy roll-over encoding information on the physical properties of the X ray emitting region. The photon index and the high-energy curvature of AGNs (Γ, Ec) have been largely studied since the launch of X-ray satellites operating above 10 keV. However, high-precision measurements of these two observables have only been obtained in recent years thanks to the unprecedented sensitivity of NuSTAR up to 79 keV. Aims. We aim at deriving relations between Γ, Ec phenomenological parameters and the intrinsic properties of the X-ray-emitting region (the hot corona), namely the optical depth and temperature. Methods. We use MoCA (Monte Carlo code for Comptonisation in Astrophysics) to produce synthetic spectra for the case of an AGN with MBH = 1.5 × 108 M⊙ and ṁ = 0.1 and then compared them with the widely used power-law model with an exponential high-energy cutoff. Results. We provide phenomenological relations relating Γ and Ec with the opacity and temperature of the coronal electrons for the case of spherical and slab-like coronae. These relations give origin to a well defined parameter space which fully contains the observed values. Exploiting the increasing number of high-energy cut-offs quoted in the literature, we report on the comparison of physical quantities obtained using MoCA with those estimated using commonly adopted spectral Comptonisation models. Finally, we discuss the negligible impact of different black hole masses and accretion rates on the inferred relations.

scholarly journals The growth of interest for astronomical X-ray polarimetry

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Marin
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Assessment ◽  
Supernova Remnant ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
High Energy ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
First Time

Astronomical X-ray polarimetry was first explored in the end of the 60's by pioneering rocket instruments. The craze arising from the first discoveries on stellar and supernova remnant X-ray polarization led to the addition of X-ray polarimeters on-board of early satellites. Unfortunately, the inadequacy of the diffraction and scattering technologies required to measure polarization with respect to the constraints driven by X-ray mirrors and detectors, coupled to long integration times, slowed down the field for almost 40 years. Thanks to the development of new, highly sensitive, compact X-ray polarimeters in the beginning of the 2000's, the possibility to observe astronomical X-ray polarization is rising again and scientists are now ready to explore the high energy sky thanks to modern X-ray polarimeters. In the forthcoming years, several X-ray missions (both rockets, balloons and satellites) will open a new observational windows. A wind of renewal blows over the area of X-ray polarimetry and this paper presents for the first time a quantitative assessment, all based on scientific literature, of the growth of interest for astronomical X-ray polarimetry.

scholarly journals Broad-band study of high-synchrotron-peaked BL Lac object 1ES 1218+304

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (4) ◽  
pp. 5518-5527
Author(s):  
N Sahakyan
Keyword(s):  
Energy Distribution ◽  
Electron Energy ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Spectral Energy Distribution ◽  
Broad Band ◽  
Energy Distributions ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Bl Lac ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Γ Ray

ABSTRACT The origin of the multiwavelength emission from the high-synchrotron-peaked BL Lac 1ES 1218+304 is studied using the data from SwiftUVOT/XRT, NuSTAR, and Fermi-LAT. A detailed temporal and spectral analysis of the data observed during 2008–2020 in the  γ-ray (&gt;100 MeV), X-ray (0.3–70 keV), and optical/UV bands is performed. The γ-ray spectrum is hard with a photon index of 1.71 ± 0.02 above 100 MeV. The SwiftUVOT/XRT data show a flux increase in the UV/optical and X-ray bands; the highest 0.3–3 keV X-ray flux was (1.13 ± 0.02) × 10−10 erg cm−2 s−1. In the 0.3–10 keV range, the averaged X-ray photon index is &gt;2.0 which softens to 2.56 ± 0.028 in the 3–50 keV band. However, in some periods, the X-ray photon index became extremely hard (&lt;1.8), indicating that the peak of the synchrotron component was above 1 keV, and so 1ES 1218+304 behaved like an extreme synchrotron BL Lac. The hardest X-ray photon index of 1ES 1218+304 was 1.60 ± 0.05 on MJD 58489. The time-averaged multiwavelength spectral energy distribution is modelled within a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton leptonic model using a broken power law and power law with an exponential cutoff electron energy distributions. The data are well explained when the electron energy distribution is $E_{\rm e}^{-2.1}$ extending up to γbr/cut ≃ (1.7 − 4.3) × 105, and the magnetic field is weak (B ∼ 1.5 × 10−2 G). By solving the kinetic equation for electron evolution in the emitting region, the obtained electron energy distributions are discussed considering particle injection, cooling, and escape.

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