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Register a new userNuSTAR spectral analysis of two bright Seyfert 1 galaxies: MCG +8-11-11 and NGC 6814
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We report on the NuSTAR observations of two bright Seyfert 1 galaxies, namely MCG +8-11-11 (100 ks) and NGC 6814 (150 ks). The main goal of these observations was to investigate the Comptonization mechanisms acting in the innermost regions of AGN which are believed to be responsible for the UV/X-ray emission. The spectroscopic analysis of the NuSTAR spectra of these two sources revealed that although they had different properties overall (black hole masses, luminosity and Eddington ratios) they had very similar coronal properties. Both presented a power law spectrum with a high-energy cutoff at $sim 150-200$ keV, a relativistically broadened Fe K$alpha$ line and the associated disk reflection component, plus a narrow iron line likely emitted in Compton thin and distant matter. The intrinsic continuum was well described by Comptonization models that show for MCG +8-11-11 a temperature of the coronal plasma of kT$_{rm e} sim$ 60 keV and an extrapolated optical depth $tau$=1.8; for NGC 6814 the coronal temperature was kT$_{rm e} sim$ 45 keV with an extrapolated optical depth of $tau$=2.5. We compare and discuss these values to some most common Comptonization models which aim at explaining the energy production and stability of coronae in active galactic nuclei.
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We present preliminary results on the hard X-ray emission properties of the Seyfert 1.5 galaxy MCG+8-11-11 as observed by INTEGRAL and SWIFT. All the INTEGRAL IBIS/ISGRI data available up to October 2009 have been analyzed together with two SWIFT/XRT snapshot observations performed in August and October 2009, quasi-simultaneously to INTEGRAL pointed observations of MCG+8-11-11. No correlation is observed between the hard X-ray flux and the spectral slope, while the position of the high-energy cut-off is found to have varied during the INTEGRAL observations. This points to a change in the temperature of the Comptonising medium from a minimum value of kT = 30-50 keV to values larger than 100-150 keV. There is no significant detection of Compton reflection, with a 3 sigma upper limit of R < 0.2, and no line has been detected at 112 keV, as previously claimed from HEAT observations (112 keV flux F < 2.4e-4 ph/cm^2/s). The variability behaviour of MCG+8-11-11 is found to be similar to that shown by IC 4329A, with different temperatures of the electron plasma for similar flux levels of the source, while other bright Seyfert galaxies present different variability patterns at hard X-rays, with spectral changes correlated to flux variations (e.g. NGC 4151).
Though S0 galaxies are usually thought to be `red and dead, they often demonstrate star formation organized in ring structures. We try to clarify the nature of this phenomenon and its difference from star formation in spiral galaxies. Two early-type galaxies with outer rings, NGC 6534 and MCG 11-22-015, are selected to be studied. The ionized gas is excited by young stars in the ring of NGC 6534 and partly by shocks -- in MCG 11-22-015. The oxygen abundances in the HII regions of the rings are close to solar. We estimate the star formation rates (SFR) in the two outer rings of the galaxies by using several SFR indicators derived from narrow-band photometry in the H-alpha emission line and archival GALEX ultraviolet images of the galaxies. The derived SFRs allow to qualitatively restore star formation histories (SFH) in the rings: in NGC 6534 the SFH is flat during the last 100-200 Myr, and in MCG 11-22-015 the star formation has started only a few Myr ago. We suggest that the rings in NGC 6534 and MCG 11-22-015 have different natures: the former is a resonant one supplied with gas perhaps through tidal effects, and the latter has been produced by a satellite accretion. Recent outer gas accretion is implied in both cases.
In the optical sky, minutes-duration transients from cosmological distances are rare. Known objects that give rise to such transients include gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most luminous explosions in the universe that have been detected at redshift as high as z ~ 9.4. These high-redshift GRBs and their associated emission can be used to probe the star formation and reionization history in the era of cosmic dawn. Here we report a near-infrared transient with an observed duration shorter than 245 s coincident with the luminous star-forming galaxy GN-z11 at z ~ 11. The telluric absorption shown in the near-infrared spectrum indicates its origin from above the atmosphere. We can rule out the possibility of known man-made objects or moving objects in the Solar system based on the observational information and our current understanding of the properties of these objects. Since some long-duration GRBs are associated with a bright ultraviolet (UV) or optical flash, we investigate the possibility that the detected signal arose from a rest-frame UV flash associated with a long GRB from GN-z11. Despite the very low probability of being a GRB, we find that the spectrum, brightness, and duration of the transient are consistent with such an interpretation. Our result may suggest that long GRBs can be produced as early as 420 million years after the Big Bang.
We report the analysis of 5 NuSTAR observations of SGR 1806-20 spread over a year from April 2015 to April 2016, more than 11 years following its Giant Flare (GF) of 2004. The source spin frequency during the NuSTAR observations follows a linear trend with a frequency derivative $dot{ u}=(-1.25pm0.03)times10^{-12}$ Hz s$^{-1}$, implying a surface dipole equatorial magnetic field $Bapprox7.7times10^{14}$ G. Thus, SGR 1806-20 has finally returned to its historical minimum torque level measured between 1993 and 1998. The source showed strong timing noise for at least 12 years starting in 2000, with $dot{ u}$ increasing one order of magnitude between 2005 and 2011, following its 2004 major bursting episode and GF. SGR 1806-20 has not shown strong transient activity since 2009 and we do not find short bursts in the NuSTAR data. The pulse profile is complex with a pulsed fraction of $sim8%$ with no indication of energy dependence. The NuSTAR spectra are well fit with an absorbed blackbody, $kT=0.62pm0.06$ keV, plus a power-law, $Gamma=1.33pm0.03$. We find no evidence for variability among the 5 observations, indicating that SGR 1806-20 has reached a persistent and potentially its quiescent X-ray flux level after its 2004 major bursting episode. Extrapolating the NuSTAR model to lower energies, we find that the 0.5-10 keV flux decay follows an exponential form with a characteristic timescale $tau=543pm75$ days. Interestingly, the NuSTAR flux in this energy range is a factor of $sim2$ weaker than the long-term average measured between 1993 and 2003, a behavior also exhibited in SGR $1900+14$. We discuss our findings in the context of the magnetar model.
MCG-6-30-15, at a distance of 37 Mpc (z=0.008), is the archetypical Seyfert 1 galaxy showing very broad Fe K$alpha$ emission. We present results from a joint NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observational campaign that, for the first time, allows a sensitive, time-resolved spectral analysis from 0.35 keV up to 80 keV. The strong variability of the source is best explained in terms of intrinsic X-ray flux variations and in the context of the light bending model: the primary, variable emission is reprocessed by the accretion disk, which produces secondary, less variable, reflected emission. The broad Fe K$alpha$ profile is, as usual for this source, well explained by relativistic effects occurring in the innermost regions of the accretion disk around a rapidly rotating black hole. We also discuss the alternative model in which the broadening of the Fe K$alpha$ is due to the complex nature of the circumnuclear absorbing structure. Even if this model cannot be ruled out, it is disfavored on statistical grounds. We also detected an occultation event likely caused by BLR clouds crossing the line of sight.
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