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We present a new X-Ray Accretion Disc-wind Emulator (xrade) based on the 2.5D Monte Carlo radiative transfer code that provides a physically motivated, self-consistent treatment of both absorption and emission from a disc wind by computing the local ionization state and velocity field within the flow. xrade is then implemented through a process that combines X-ray tracing with supervised machine learning. We develop a novel emulation method consisting in training, validating, and testing the simulated disc-wind spectra into a purposely built artificial neural network. The trained emulator can generate a single synthetic spectrum for a particular parameter set in a fraction of a second, in contrast to the few hours required by a standard Monte Carlo radiative transfer pipeline. The emulator does not suffer from interpolation issues with multidimensional spaces that are typically faced by traditional X-ray fitting packages such as xspec. xrade will be suitable to a wide number of sources across the black hole mass, ionizing luminosity, and accretion rate scales. As an example, we demonstrate the applicability of xrade to the physical interpretation of the X-ray spectra of the bright quasar PDS 456, which hosts the best-established accretion disc wind observed to date. We anticipate that our emulation method will be an indispensable tool for the development of high-resolution theoretical models, with the necessary flexibility to be optimized for the next generation microcalorimeters onboard future missions, like X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM)/Resolve and Athena /X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU). This tool can also be implemented across a wide variety of X-ray spectral models and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the search for the optical counterpart of the gravitational event GW170814, which was carried out with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) by the GRAvitational Wave Inaf TeAm. Observations started 17.5 h after the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo alert and we covered an area of 99 deg2 that encloses |$\sim 77{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$| and |$\sim 59{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$| of the initial and refined localization probability regions, respectively. A total of six epochs were secured over nearly two months. The survey reached an average limiting magnitude of 22 AB mag in the r band. After assuming the model described in Perna, Lazzati & Farr, that derives as possible optical counterpart of a BBH (binary black hole) event a transient source declining in about one day, we have computed a survey efficiency of about |$5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$|⁠. This paper describes the VST observational strategy and the results obtained by our analysis pipelines developed to search for optical transients in multi-epoch images. We report the catalogue of the candidates with possible identifications based on light-curve fitting. We have identified two dozens of SNe, nine AGNs, and one QSO. Nineteen transients characterized by a single detection were not classified. We have restricted our analysis only to the candidates that fall into the refined localization map. None out of 39 left candidates could be positively associated with GW170814. This result implies that the possible emission of optical radiation from a BBH merger had to be fainter than r ∼ 22 (L optical ∼ 1.4 × 1042 erg s−1) on a time interval ranging from a few hours up to two months after the gravitational wave event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 an active galactic nucleus (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 cut-off at ~150-200 keV, a relativistically broadened Fe Kα line and the associated disc 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 kTe ~ 60 keV and an extrapolated optical depth τ = 1.8; for NGC 6814, the coronal temperature was kTe ~ 45 keV with an extrapolated optical depth of τ = 2.5. We compare and discuss these values to some most common Comptonization models that aim at explaining the energy production and stability of coronae in AGNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first unambiguous evidence of a broad (Gaussian width ∼330 eV) component of the iron Kα fluorescent emission line in the X-ray obscured narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy, NGC 5506. This is the main result of a spectroscopic monitoring campaign on this source, performed with the XMM–Newton observatory between 2001 February and 2009 January. The broad line lacks extreme redward skewness. If modelled with a relativistic component, the profile of the line is consistent with a flat emissivity radial dependence . The disc inclination is nominally larger than typically observed in unobscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs), in agreement with most measurements of broadened iron lines in Seyfert 2 galaxies. The quality of the data allows us to decompose the full iron emission-line complex, and to study its long-term (time-scales of weeks to yr) variability pattern. The intensity of the neutral and narrow iron Kα core remains constant during the monitoring campaign. This indicates that the optically thick gas responsible for the non-relativistic reprocessing of the primary AGN continuum in NGC 5506 is probably located in the torus rather than in the optical broad-line region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on partially overlapping XMM–Newton (∼260 ks) and Suzaku (∼100 ks) observations of the iron K band in the nearby, bright type 1 Seyfert galaxy Mrk 509. The source shows a resolved neutral Fe K line, most probably produced in the outer part of the accretion disc. Moreover, the source shows further emission bluewards of the 6.4 keV line due to ionized material. This emission is well reproduced by a broad line produced in the accretion disc, while it cannot be easily described by scattering or emission from photoionized gas at rest. The summed spectrum of all XMM–Newton observations shows the presence of a narrow absorption line at 7.3 keV produced by highly ionized outflowing material. A spectral variability study of the XMM–Newton data shows an indication for an excess of variability at 6.6–6.7 keV. These variations may be produced in the red wing of the broad ionized line or by variation of a further absorption structure. The Suzaku data indicate that the neutral Fe Kα line intensity is consistent with being constant on long time-scales (of a few years), and they also confirm as most likely the interpretation of the excess blueshifted emission in terms of a broad ionized Fe line. The average Suzaku spectrum differs from the XMM–Newton one in the disappearance of the 7.3 keV absorption line and around 6.7 keV, where the XMM–Newton data alone suggested variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report results from the XMM–Newton observation of IRAS 13197−1627, a luminous infrared (IR) galaxy with a Seyfert 1.8 nucleus. The hard X-ray spectrum is steep (Γ∼ 2.5) and is absorbed by Compton-thin ( NH∼ 4 × 1023 cm−2) neutral gas. We detect a Fe Kα emission line at 6.4 keV, consistent with transmission through the absorber. The most striking result of our spectral analysis is the detection of a dominant X-ray reflection component and broad Fe line from the inner accretion disc. The reflection-dominated hard X-ray spectrum is confirmed by the strong Compton hump seen in a previous BeppoSAX observation and could be the sign that most of the primary X-rays are radiated from a compact corona (or base of the jet) within a few gravitational radii from the black hole. We also detect a relatively strong absorption line at 6.81 keV which, if interpreted as Fe xxv resonant absorption, implies an outflow with velocity ∼5 × 103 km s−1. In the soft energy band, the high-resolution gratings and the CCD-resolution data show the presence of both photoionized gas and thermal plasma emission, the latter being most likely associated with a recent starburst of 15–20 M⊙ yr−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]