اشترك بالحزمة الذهبية واحصل على وصول غير محدود شمرا أكاديميا
تسجيل مستخدم جديدAre Compton-thin AGNs Globally Compton Thin?
401
0
0.0
(
0
)
اسأل ChatGPT حول البحث
ﻻ يوجد ملخص باللغة العربية
We select eight nearby AGNs which, based on previous work, appear to be Compton-thin in the line of sight. We model with MYTORUS their broadband X-ray spectra from 20 individual observations with $Suzaku$, accounting self-consistently for Fe K$alpha$ line emission, as well as direct and scattered continuum from matter with finite column density and solar Fe abundance. Our model configuration allows us to measure the global, out of the line of sight, equivalent hydrogen column density separately from that in the line of sight. For 5 out of 20 observations (in 3 AGNs) we find that the global column density is in fact $gtrsim 1.5 times 10^{24}$cm$^{-2}$, consistent with the distant scattering matter being Compton-thick. For a fourth AGN, 2 out of 5 observations are also consistent with being Compton-thick, although with large errors. Some of these AGNs have been reported to host relativistically broadened Fe K$alpha$ emission. Based on our modeling, the Fe K$alpha$ emission line is not resolved in all but two $Suzaku$ observations, and the data can be fitted well with models that only include a narrow Fe K$alpha$ emission line.
قيم البحث
اقرأ أيضاً
Heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) play an important role in contributing to the cosmic X-ray background (CXRB). However, the AGNs found in deep X-ray surveys are often too weak to allow direct measurement of the column density of obscuri
ng matter. One method adopted in recent years to identify heavily obscured, Compton-thick AGNs under such circumstances is to use the observed mid-infrared to X-ray luminosity ratio as a proxy for the column density. This is based on the supposition that the amount of energy lost by the illuminating X-ray continuum to the obscuring matter and reprocessed into infrared emission is directly related to the column density and that the proxy is not sensitive to other physical parameters of the system (aside from contamination by dust emission from, for example, star-forming regions). Using Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the energy losses experienced by the illuminating X-ray continuum in the obscuring matter are far more sensitive to the shape of the X-ray continuum and to the covering factor of the X-ray reprocessor than they are to the column density of the material. Specifically we find that it is possible for the infrared to X-ray luminosity ratio for a Compton-thin source to be just as large as that for a Compton-thick source even without any contamination from dust. Since the intrinsic X-ray continuum and covering factor of the reprocessor are poorly constrained from deep X-ray survey data, we conclude that the mid-infrared to X-ray luminosity ratio is not a reliable proxy for the column density of obscuring matter in AGNs even when there is no other contribution to the mid-infrared luminosity aside from X-ray reprocessing. This conclusion is independent of the geometry of the obscuring matter.
Mkn 3 is a Seyfert 2 galaxy that is widely regarded as an exemplary Compton-thick AGN. We study the Suzaku X-ray spectrum using models of the X-ray reprocessor that self-consistently account for the Fe K$alpha$ fluorescent emission line and the assoc
iated Compton-scattered, or reflection, continuum. We find a solution in which the average global column density, $0.234^{+0.012}_{-0.010} times 10^{24} rm cm^{-2}$, is very different to the line-of-sight column density, $0.902^{+0.012}_{-0.013} times 10^{24} rm cm^{-2}$. The global column density is $sim 5$ times smaller than that required for the matter distribution to be Compton-thick. Our model accounts for the profiles of the Fe K$alpha$ and Fe K$beta$ lines, and the Fe K edge remarkably well, with a solar abundance of Fe. The matter distribution could consist of a clumpy medium with a line-of-sight column density higher than the global average. A uniform, spherically-symmetric distribution alone cannot simultaneously produce the correct fluorescent line spectrum and reflection continuum. Previous works on Mkn 3, and other AGN, that assumed a reflection continuum from matter with an infinite column density could therefore lead to erroneous or puzzling conclusions if the matter out of the line-of-sight is really Compton-thin. Whereas studies of samples of AGN have generally only probed the line-of-sight column density, with simplistic, one-dimensional models, it is important now to establish the global column densities in AGN. It is the global properties that affect the energy budget in terms of reprocessing of X-rays into infrared emission, and that constrain population synthesis models of the cosmic X-ray background.
We present new spectropolarimetry of a sample of nearby Compton-thin Seyfert 2 galaxies (ie those with N_H<10^23 cm^-2). We show that the detection rate of scattered broad Halpha in this sample is considerably higher than in Seyfert 2 galaxies as a w
hole. Our results also show that in this low obscuration set it is possible to find scattered broad Halpha even when the global properties of the galaxy are largely dominated by the host galaxy and not the active galactic nucleus. These results argue against the existence of a population of `pure Seyfert 2 galaxies.
AGN exhibit complex hard X-ray spectra. Our current understanding is that the emission is dominated by inverse Compton processes which take place in the corona above the accretion disk, and that absorption and reflection in a distant absorber play a
major role. These processes can be directly observed through the shape of the continuum, the Compton reflection hump around 30 keV, and the iron fluorescence line at 6.4 keV. We demonstrate the capabilities of Simbol-X to constrain complex models for cases like MCG-05-23-016, NGC 4151, NGC 2110, and NGC 4051 in short (10 ksec) observations. We compare the simulations with recent observations on these sources by INTEGRAL, Swift and Suzaku. Constraining reflection models for AGN with Simbol-X will help us to get a clear view of the processes and geometry near to the central engine in AGN, and will give insight to which sources are responsible for the Cosmic X-ray background at energies above 20 keV.
Millisecond pulsars are very likely the main source of gamma-ray emission from globular clusters. However, the relative contributions of two separate emission processes-curvature radiation from millisecond pulsar magnetospheres vs. inverse Compton em
ission from relativistic pairs launched into the globular cluster environment by millisecond pulsars-has long been unclear. To address this, we search for evidence of inverse Compton emission in 8-year Fermi-LAT data from the directions of 157 Milky Way globular clusters. We find a mildly statistically significant (3.8$sigma$) correlation between the measured globular cluster gamma-ray luminosities and their photon field energy densities. However, this may also be explained by a hidden correlation between the photon field densities and the stellar encounter rates of globular clusters. Analysed in toto, we demonstrate that the gamma-ray emission of globular clusters can be resolved spectrally into two components: i) an exponentially cut-off power law and ii) a pure power law. The latter component-which we uncover at a significance of 8.2$sigma$-is most naturally interpreted as inverse Compton emission by cosmic-ray electrons and positrons injected by millisecond pulsars. We find the luminosity of this inverse Compton component is comparable to, or slightly smaller than, the luminosity of the curved component, suggesting the fraction of millisecond pulsar spin-down luminosity into relativistic leptons is similar to the fraction of the spin-down luminosity into prompt magnetospheric radiation.
سجل دخول لتتمكن من نشر تعليقات
التعليقات
جاري جلب التعليقات
سجل دخول لتتمكن من متابعة معايير البحث التي قمت باختيارها
