No Arabic abstract
We present an ASCA observation of the broad line radio galaxy 3C111. The X-ray spectrum is well described by a model consisting of a photoelectrically-absorbed power-law form. The inferred absorbing column density is significantly greater than expected on the basis of 21-cm measurements of Galactic HI. Whilst this may be due intrinsic absorption from a circumnuclear torus or highly warped accretion disk, inhomogeneities and molecular gas within the foreground giant molecular cloud may also be responsible for some of this excess absorption. We also claim a marginal detection of a broad iron Ka line which is well explained as being a fluorescent line originating from the central regions of a radiatively-efficient accretion disk. This line appears weak in comparison to those found in (radio-quiet) Seyfert nuclei. We briefly discuss the implications of this fact.
The broad-line radio galaxy 3C111 has been suggested as the counterpart of the gamma-ray source 3EGJ0416+3650. While 3C111 meets most of the criteria for a high-probability identification, like a bright flat-spectrum radio core and a blazar-like broadband SED, in the Third EGRET Catalog, the large positional offset of about 1.5 degrees put 3C111 outside the 99% probability region for 3EGJ0416+3650, making this association questionable. We present a re-analysis of all available data for 3C111 from the EGRET archives, resulting in probable detection of high-energy gamma-ray emission above 1000MeV from a position close to the nominal position of 3C111, in two separate viewing periods (VPs), at a 3-sigma level in each. A new source, GROJ0426+3747, appears to be present nearby. For >100MeV, one source seems to account for most of the EGRET-detected emission of 3EGJ0416+3650. A follow-up Swift UVOT/XRT observation reveals one moderately bright X-ray source in the error box of 3EGJ0416+3650, but because of the large EGRET position uncertainty, it is not certain that the X-ray and gamma-ray sources are associated. Another Swift observation, of GROJ0426+3747, detected no X-ray source nearby.
We present a study of the central engine in the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 109. To investigate the immediate surrounding of this accreting, supermassive black hole, we perform a multi-epoch broad-band spectral analysis of a joint NuSTAR/XMM observation (2017), an archival xmm observation (2005) and the 105-month averaged Swift-BAT data. We are able to clearly separate the spectrum into a primary continuum, neutral and ionized absorption, and a reflection component. The photon index of the primary continuum has changed since 2005 ($Gamma = 1.61 substack{+0.02 -0.01} rightarrow 1.54 pm{0.02}$), while other components remain unchanged, indicative of minimal geometric changes to the central engine. We constrain the high-energy cutoff of 3C 109 (E$_{text{cut}}= 49 substack{+7 -5}$,keV ) for the first time. The reflector is found to be ionized (log $xi$ = $2.3 substack{+0.1 -0.2}$) but no relativistic blurring is required by the data. SED analysis confirms the super-Eddington nature of 3C 109 initially ($lambda_{Edd} >$ 2.09). However, we do not find any evidence for strong reflection (R = $0.18 substack{+0.04 -0.03}$) or a steep power law index, as expected from a super-Eddington source. This puts the existing virial mass estimate of 2 $times 10^{8}$M$_{odot}$ into question. We explore additional ways of estimating the Eddington ratio, some of which we find to be inconsistent with our initial SED estimate. We obtain a new black hole mass estimate of 9.3 $times 10^{8}$M$_{odot}$, which brings all Eddington ratio estimates into agreement and does not require 3C 109 to be super-Eddington.
We present the results of the analysis of an archival 15 ks XMM-Newton observation of the nearby (z=0.057) radio-loud source 3C445, optically classified as a Broad-Line Radio Galaxy. While the RGS data are of insufficient quality to allow a meaningful analysis, the EPIC data show a remarkable X-ray spectrum. The 2-10 keV continuum is described by a heavily absorbed (Nh~ 1e22 - 1e23 cm-2) power law with photon index Gamma ~1.4, and strong (R~2) cold reflection. A narrow, unresolved Fe Kalpha emission line is detected, confirming previous findings, with EW 120eV. A soft excess is present below 2 keV over the extrapolation of the hard X-ray power law, which we model with a power law with the same photon index as the hard power law, absorbed by a column density Nh=6e20 cm-2 in excess to Galactic. A host of emission lines are present below 2 keV, confirming previous indications from ASCA, due to H- and He-like O, Mg, and Si. We attribute the origin of the lines to a photoionized gas, with properties very similar to radio-quiet obscured AGN. Two different ionized media, or a single stratified medium, are required to fit the soft X-ray data satisfactorily. The similarity of the X-ray spectrum of 3C445 to Seyferts underscores that the central engines of radio-loud and radio-quiet AGN similarly host both cold and warm gas.
We present a detailed analysis of broad band X-ray data of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC5506. 2-10 keV band are detected during a 1-day ASCA observation, while no significant change in the 2-10 keV continuum shape is found. The ASCA spectrum consists of an absorbed power-law, a soft excess below 2 keV, and an Fe K$alpha$ emission line at 6.4 keV. The soft excess can be well described by either thermal emission from very low abundance material at a temperature kT$simeq$0.8 keV, or scattered/leaking flux from the primary power-law plus a small amount of thermal emission. Analysis of ROSAT HRI data reveals that the soft X-ray emission is extended on kpc scales in this object, and the extended component may account for most of the soft X-ray excess observed by the ASCA. The result suggests that in this type 2 AGN, the soft excess at least partly comes from an extended region, imposing serious problem for the model in which the source is partially covered. Fe K$alpha$ profile is complex and can not be satisfactorily modeled by a single gaussian. Models of either double gaussians, or a narrow gaussian plus a line from a relativistic accretion disk viewed at an inclination of about 40$pm10^circ$ provide good fits to the data. However, the inclination of the disk can be substantially larger if there is a small amount of excessive Fe K edge absorption. The intermediate inclinations for NLXGs are consistent with the ideas that the inner accretion disk is aligned with the outer obscuring torus.
We present the results of hard-X-ray observations of four broad-line radio galaxies (BLRGs) with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The original motivation behind the observations was to search for systematic differences between the BLRGs and their radio-quiet counterparts, the Seyfert galaxies. We do, indeed, find that the Fe K-alpha lines and Compton reflection components, which are hallmarks of the X-ray spectra of Seyferts galaxies, are weaker in BLRGs by about a factor of 2. This observational result is in agreement with the conclusions of other recent studies of these objects. We examine several possible explanations for this systematic difference, including beaming of the primary X-rays away from the accretion disk, a low iron abundance, a small solid angle subtended by the disk to the primary X-ray source, and dilution of the observed spectrum by beamed X-rays from the jet. We find that a small solid angle subtended by the disk to the primary X-ray source is a viable and appealing explanation, while all others suffer from drawbacks. We interpret this as an indication of a difference in the inner accretion disk structure between Seyfert galaxies and BLRGs, namely that the inner accretion disks of BLRGs have the form of an ion-supported torus or an advection-dominated accretion flow, which irradiates the geometrically thin outer disk.