论文标题
NGC 4258中有源核的综合X射线视图
A comprehensive X-ray view of the active nucleus in NGC 4258
论文作者
论文摘要
(删节)我们提出了NGC 4258的详细宽带X射线光谱,目的是精确测量AGN的冠状发光度和积聚流量,并跟踪在二十年观察结果中的任何可能变化。我们收集了15年的档案XMM-Newton,Chandra,Swift/BAT和Nustar光谱观察结果,并配备了一系列最先进的模型,其中包括扭曲的磁盘模型,该模型被怀疑提供了在X射线中观察到的众所周知的掩盖。我们通过文献的档案结果补充了这些信息。在不同的时期观察到明显的光谱变异性。遮盖的柱密度可能显示出10年的时间表可能发生周期性波动,而固有的光度在15年的时间段内长期降低了三倍(从$ l_ {2-10〜 \ text {kev}} \ sim 10^{kev}} \ sim 10^{41} $ erg s $ s $^{41} $^{-1} $^{-1000S} $ l_ {2-10〜 \ text {kev}} \ sim 3 \ times 10^{40} $ erg s $^{ - 1} $在2016年)。平均吸收校正的X射线光度$ l_ {2-10〜 \ text {kev}} $,结合临床测定量度亮度的档案确定$ k _ {\ rm bolm bol} \ sim 20 $,对sey的典型效果,造成良好的典型效果。此外,X射线光子指数$γ$与更广泛的AGN种群的典型值一致。但是,爱丁顿单位的积聚率非常低,远高于预期的RIAF制度。我们的结果表明,NGC 4258是一种真正的低亮度Seyfert II,其X射线发射没有强烈的指示,即热的RIAF样吸积流。
(Abridged) We present a detailed broadband X-ray spectrum of NGC 4258, with the goal of precisely measuring the coronal luminosity and accretion flow properties of the AGN, and track any possible variation across two decades of observations. We collect archival XMM-Newton, Chandra, Swift/BAT and NuSTAR spectroscopic observations spanning 15 years, and fit them with a suite of state of the art models, including a warped disk model which is suspected to provide the well known obscuration observed in the X-rays. We complement this information with archival results from the literature. Clear spectral variability is observed among the different epochs. The obscuring column density shows possibly periodic fluctuations on a timescale of 10 years, while the intrinsic luminosity displays a long term decrease of a factor of three in a time span of 15 years (from $L_{2-10~\text{keV}} \sim 10^{41}$ erg s$^{-1}$ in the early 2000s, to $L_{2-10~\text{keV}} \sim 3 \times 10^{40}$ erg s$^{-1}$ in 2016). The average absorption-corrected X-ray luminosity $L_{2-10~\text{keV}}$, combined with archival determinations of the bolometric luminosity, implies a bolometric correction $k_{\rm bol} \sim 20$, intriguingly typical for Seyferts powered by accretion through geometrically thin, radiatively efficient disks. Moreover, the X-ray photon index $Γ$ is consistent with the typical value of the broader AGN population. However, the accretion rate in Eddington units is very low, well within the expected RIAF regime. Our results suggest that NGC 4258 is a genuinely low-luminosity Seyfert II, with no strong indications in its X-ray emission for a hot, RIAF-like accretion flow.