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A Compton-thin solution for the Suzaku X-ray spectrum of the Seyfert 2 galaxy Mkn 3
Ist Teil von
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2015-11, Vol.454 (1), p.973-990
Ort / Verlag
London: Oxford University Press
Erscheinungsjahr
2015
Link zum Volltext
Quelle
Free E-Journal (出版社公開部分のみ）
Beschreibungen/Notizen
Mkn 3 is a Seyfert 2 galaxy that is widely regarded as an exemplary Compton-thick Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN). We study the Suzaku X-ray spectrum using models of the X-ray reprocessor that self-consistently account for the Fe Kα fluorescent emission line and the associated 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 ∼5 times smaller than that required for the matter distribution to be Compton thick. Our model accounts for the profiles of the Fe Kα and Fe Kβ 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.