1. NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations of NGC 1365: Extreme absorption variability and a constant inner accretion disk
- Author
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K. K. Madsen, Felix Fuerst, Giorgio Matt, Bin Luo, Guido Risaliti, David R. Ballantyne, C. J. Hailey, Andrea Marinucci, Fiona A. Harrison, Poshak Gandhi, William W. Zhang, Christopher S. Reynolds, Andrew C. Fabian, Martin Elvis, E. Rivers, Michael Parker, Jonah Miller, Dominic J. Walton, Walter Craig, Brian W. Grefenstette, Patricia Arevalo, Daniel Stern, Erin Kara, Laura Brenneman, Finn Erland Christensen, S. E. Boggs, Randy R. Ross, Walton, D. J., Risaliti, G., Harrison, F. A., Fabian, A. C., Miller, J. M., Arevalo, P., Ballantyne, D. R., Boggs, S. E., Brenneman, L. W., Christensen, F. E., Craig, W. W., Elvis, M., Fuerst, F., Gandhi, P., Grefenstette, B. W., Hailey, C. J., Kara, E., Luo, B., Madsen, K. K., Marinucci, Andrea, Matt, Giorgio, Parker, M. L., Reynolds, C. S., Rivers, E., Ross, R. R., Stern, D., Zhang, W. W., Walton, Dominic [0000-0001-5819-3552], Fabian, Andrew [0000-0002-9378-4072], Parker, Michael [0000-0002-8466-7317], Reynolds, Christopher [0000-0002-1510-4860], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
- Subjects
Physics ,High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) ,Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) ,Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,galaxies : active ,black hole physics ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Observable ,Astrophysics ,Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies ,X-rays : individual (NGC 1365) ,Spectral line ,Galaxy ,Rotating black hole ,Accretion disc ,Space and Planetary Science ,Reflection spectrum ,Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) ,Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,Spectroscopy ,Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics ,Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics ,Dimensionless quantity - Abstract
We present a spectral analysis of four coordinated NuSTAR+XMM-Newton observations of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1365. These exhibit an extreme level of spectral variability, which is primarily due to variable line-of-sight absorption, revealing relatively unobscured states in this source for the first time. Despite the diverse range of absorption states, each of the observations displays the same characteristic signatures of relativistic reflection from the inner accretion disk. Through time-resolved spectroscopy we find that the strength of the relativistic iron line and the Compton reflection hump relative to the intrinsic continuum are well correlated, as expected if they are two aspects of the same broadband reflection spectrum. We apply self-consistent disk reflection models to these time-resolved spectra in order to constrain the inner disk parameters, allowing for variable, partially covering absorption to account for the vastly different absorption states observed. Each of the four observations is treated independently to test the consistency of the results obtained for the black hole spin and the disk inclination, which should not vary on observable timescales. We find both the spin and the inclination determined from the reflection spectrum to be consistent, confirming NGC 1365 hosts a rapidly rotating black hole; in all cases the dimensionless spin parameter is constrained to be a* > 0.97 (at 90% statistical confidence or better)., 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
- Published
- 2018
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