No Arabic abstract
We discuss here a long Suzaku observation of IRAS 19254-7245 (also known as the Superantennae), one of the brightest and well studied Ultra Luminous Infrared Galaxies in the local Universe. This long observation provided the first detection of IRAS 19254-7245 above 10 keV, and measured a 15-30 keV flux of ~5x10^(-12) erg cm^-2 s^-1. The detection above 10 keV has allowed us to unveil, for the first time, the intrinsic luminosity of the AGN hosted in IRAS 19254-7245, which is strongly absorbed (Nh ~ 3x10^(24) cm^-2) and has an intrinsic luminosity in the QSO regime (L(2-10 keV) ~ 3 x 10^(44) erg s^-1). The 2-10 keV spectrum of IRAS 19254-7245 is remarkably hard (Gamma~1.2), and presents a strong iron line (EW ~0.7 keV), clearly suggesting that below 10 keV we are seeing only reprocessed radiation. Since the energy of the Fe K emission is found to be at ~6.7 keV, consistent with He-like Fe, and its EW is too high to be explained in a starburst dominated scenario, we suggest that the 2--10 keV emission of IRAS 19254-7245 is dominated by reflection/scattering from highly ionized matter. Indeed, within this latter scenario we found that the photon index of the illuminating source is Gamma=1.87 (+0.11,-0.28), in excellent agreement with the mean value found for radio quiet unobscured AGN.
We present the XMM-Newton observation of the merging system IRAS 19254-7245, also known as The Superantennae, whose southern nucleus is classified as a Seyfert 2 galaxy. The XMM-Newton data have allowed us to perform a detailed X-ray imaging and spectral analysis of this system. We clearly detect, for the first time in this system, a strong EW ~ 1.4 keV Fe emission line at 6.49+/-0.1 keV (rest-frame). The X-ray spectrum requires a soft thermal component (kT~0.9 keV; L(0.5-2) ~ 4E41 cgs), likely associated with the starburst, and a hard power-law continuum above 2 keV (observed L(2-10) ~ 4E42 cgs). We confirm the flatness of this latter component, already noted in previous ASCA data. This flatness, together with the detection of the strong Fe-Kalpha line and other broad band indicators, suggest the presence of a Compton-thick AGN with intrinsic luminosity > 1E44 cgs. We show that a Compton-thick model can perfectly reproduce the X-ray spectral properties of this object.
We present ROSAT HRI and ASCA observations of the well known ULIRG IRAS19254-7245 (the Superantennae). The object is not detected by ROSAT yielding a 3sigma upper limit of L_x ~8x10^{41} erg/s in the 0.1-2 keV band. However, we obtain a clear detection by ASCA yielding a luminosity in the 2-10 keV band of 2 times 10^{42}erg/s. Its X-ray spectrum is very hard, equivalent to a photon index of Gamma=1.0+-0.35. We therefore, attempt to model the X-ray data with a scatterer model in which the intrinsic X-ray emission along our line of sight is obscured by an absorbing screen while some fraction, f, is scattered into our line of sight by an ionized medium; this is the standard model for the X-ray emission in obscured (but non Compton-thick) Seyfert galaxies. We obtain an absorbing column of 2x10^{23}cm^{-2} for a power-law photon index of Gamma=1.9, an order of magnitude above the column estimated on the basis of optical observations; the percentage of the scattered emission is high (~20%). Alternatively, a model where most of the X-ray emission comes from reflection on a Compton thick torus (N_H>10^{24} cm^{-2}) cannot be ruled out. We do not detect an Fe line at 6.4 keV; however, the upper limit (90%) to the equivalent width of the 6.4 keV line is high (~3 keV). All the above suggest that most of the X-ray emission originates in an highly obscured Seyfert-2 nucleus.
We report the discovery of a mid-infrared variable AGN which is hosted by an ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) candidate in the Sloan Stripe 82 field. textit{WISE} textit{J030654.88+010833.6} is a red, extended galaxy, which we estimate to be at a photometric redshift of 0.28 $leq$ z $leq$ 0.31, based on its optical and near-infrared spectral energy distribution (SED). The factor of two variability over 8 years seen in the textit{WISE} 3.4 and 4.6 $mu$m wavelength channels is not clearly correlated with optical variability in archival data. Based on our estimation of the physical parameters of the host galaxy, textit{J030654.88+010833.6} is possibly a composite AGN/starburst ULIRG in a phase where high star formation $sim$ 70 M$_{odot}$ year$^{-1}$ is occurring. Our estimate of the black hole mass to stellar mass ratio also appears to be consistent with that of broad-line AGN in the local universe. The long-term variability of textit{J030654.88+010833.6} as seen in the textit{WISE} textit{W1} and textit{W2} light curves is likely due to variations in the accretion rate, with the energy being reprocessed by dust in the vicinity of the AGN.
We report results from a 2007 Suzaku observation of the Seyfert 1 AGN NGC 4593. The narrow Fe K alpha emission line has a FWHM width ~4000 km/s, indicating emission from >~ 5000 Rg. There is no evidence for a relativistically broadened Fe K line, consistent with the presence of a radiatively efficient outer disk which is truncated or transitions to an interior radiatively inefficient flow. The Suzaku observation caught the source in a low-flux state; compared to a 2002 XMM observation, the hard X-ray flux decreased by 3.6, while the Fe K alpha line intensity and width each roughly halved. Two model-dependent explanations for the changes in Fe line profile are explored. In one, the Fe line width has decreased from ~10000 to ~4000 km/s from 2002 to 2007, suggesting that the thin disk truncation/transition radius has increased from 1000-2000 to >~5000 Rg. However, there are indications from other compact accreting systems that such truncation radii tend to be associated only with accretion rates relative to Eddington much lower than that of NGC 4593. In the second (preferred) model, the line profile in the XMM observation consists of a time-invariant narrow component plus a broad component originating from the inner part of the truncated disk (~300 Rg) which has responded to the drop in continuum flux. The Compton reflection component strength R is ~1.1, consistent with the measured Fe K alpha line total EQW with an Fe abundance 1.7 times solar. The modest soft excess has fallen by a factor of ~20 from 2002 to 2007, ruling out emission from a region 5 lt-yr in size.
mm-wave emission from Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) may hold the key to understanding the physical origin of their radio cores. The correlation between radio/mm and X-ray luminosity may suggest a similar physical origin of the two sources. Since synchrotron self absorption decreases with frequency, mm-waves probe smaller length scales than cm-waves. We report on 100 GHz (3 mm) observations with CARMA of 26 AGNs selected from the hard X-ray Swift/BAT survey. 20/26 targets were detected at 100 GHz down to the 1 mJy (3 $sigma$) sensitivity, which corresponds to optically thick synchrotron source sizes of 10$^{-4}$ - 10$^{-3}$ pc). Most sources show a 100 GHz flux excess with respect to the spectral slope extrapolated from low frequencies. This mm spectral component likely originates from smaller scales than the few-GHz emission. The measured mm sources lie roughly around the L$_{mm}$ (100 GHz) $sim$ 10$^{-1}$ L$_{X}$ (2-10 keV) relation, similar to a few previously published X-ray selected sources, and hinting perhaps at a common coronal origin.