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Anatomy of the AGN in NGC 5548. VI. Long-term variability of the warm absorber
- Source :
- Astronomy & Astrophysics (0004-6361), 587, A129
- Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- (Abridged) The archetypal Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 was observed in 2013-2014 in the context of an extensive multiwavelength campaign, which revealed the source to be in an extraordinary state of persistent heavy obscuration. We re-analyzed the archival grating spectra obtained by XMM-Newton and Chandra between 1999 and 2007 in order to characterize the classic warm absorber (WA) using consistent models and up-to-date photoionization codes and atomic physics databases and to construct a baseline model that can be used as a template for the WA in the 2013 observations. The WA in NGC 5548 is composed of 6 distinct ionization phases outflowing in 4 kinematic regimes in the form of a stratified wind with several layers intersected by our line of sight. If the changes in the WA are solely due to ionization or recombination processes in response to variations in the ionizing flux among the different observations, we are able to estimate lower limits on the density of the WA, finding that the farthest components are less dense and have a lower ionization. These limits are used to put stringent upper limits on the distance of the WA components from the central ionizing source, with the lowest ionization phases<br />20 pages, 8 figures, 7 tables, plus 4 figures and 6 tables in the Appendix. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Subjects :
- galaxie [X-rays]
Seyfert [Galaxies]
active [Galaxies]
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
FOS: Physical sciences
Flux
Context (language use)
Astrophysics
Photoionization
Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
01 natural sciences
Spectral line
spectroscopic [Techniques]
Luminosity
Ionization
0103 physical sciences
Galaxy formation and evolution
individual: NGC 5548 [Galaxies]
010303 astronomy & astrophysics
Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
Physics
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy and Astrophysic
Galaxy
Space and Planetary Science
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Astronomy & Astrophysics (0004-6361), 587, A129
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....93ab867012b5ab024d4e6ce2fa0b9e0f