X-ray reflection in the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068
Abstract
We use the full broad-band XMM-Newton European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC) data to examine the X-ray spectrum of the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068, previously shown to be complex with the X-ray continuum being a sum of components reflected/scattered from cold (neutral) and warm (ionized) matter, together with associated emission-line spectra. We quantify the neutral and ionized reflectors in terms of the luminosity of the hidden nucleus. Both are relatively weak, a result we interpret on the unified Seyfert model by a near side-on view to the putative torus, reducing the visibility of the illuminated inner surface of the torus (the cold reflector), and part of the ionized outflow. A high inclination in NGC 1068 also provides a natural explanation for the large (Compton-thick) absorbing column in the line-of-sight to the nucleus. The emission line fluxes are consistent with the strength of the neutral and ionized continuum components, supporting the robustness of the spectral model.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- May 2006
- DOI:
- 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10139.x
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0602185
- Bibcode:
- 2006MNRAS.368..707P
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: active;
- galaxies: individual: NGC 1068;
- galaxies: individual: Mrk 3;
- galaxies: Seyfert;
- X-rays: galaxies;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 8 pages. 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS