Chasing obscuration in type-I AGN : discovery of an eclipsing clumpy wind at the outer broad-line region of NGC 3783

Mehdipour, M. and Kaastra, J. S. and Kriss, G. A. and Arav, N. and Behar, E. and Bianchi, S. and Branduardi-Raymont, G. and Cappi, M. and Costantini, E. and Ebrero, J. and Gesu, L. Di and Kaspi, S. and Mao, J. and Marco, B. De and Matt, G. and Paltani, S. and Peretz, U. and Peterson, B. M. and Petrucci, P. -O. and Pinto, C. and Ponti, G. and Ursini, F. and Vries, C. P. de and Walton, D. J. (2017) Chasing obscuration in type-I AGN : discovery of an eclipsing clumpy wind at the outer broad-line region of NGC 3783. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 607. A28. ISSN 0004-6361 (https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201731175)

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Abstract

In 2016 we carried out a Swift monitoring program to track the X-ray hardness variability of eight type-I AGN over a year. The purpose of this monitoring was to find intense obscuration events in AGN, and thereby study them by triggering joint XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, and HST observations. We successfully accomplished this for NGC 3783 in December 2016. We found heavy X-ray absorption produced by an obscuring outflow in this AGN. As a result of this obscuration, interesting absorption features appear in the UV and X-ray spectra, which are not present in the previous epochs. Namely, the obscuration produces broad and blue-shifted UV absorption lines of Ly$\alpha$, C IV, and N V, together with a new high-ionisation component producing Fe XXV and Fe XXVI absorption lines. In soft X-rays, only narrow emission lines stand out above the diminished continuum as they are not absorbed by the obscurer. Our analysis shows that the obscurer partially covers the central source with a column density of few $10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$, outflowing with a velocity of few thousand km s$^{-1}$. The obscuration in NGC 3783 is variable and lasts for about a month. Unlike the commonly-seen warm-absorber winds at pc-scale distances from the black hole, the eclipsing wind in NGC 3783 is located at about 10 light days. Our results suggest the obscuration is produced by an inhomogeneous and clumpy medium, consistent with clouds in the base of a radiatively-driven disk wind at the outer broad-line region of the AGN.

  • Item type:Article
    ID code:70853
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    31 October 2017
    Published
    31 October 2017
    Published Online
    12 July 2017
    Accepted
    Subjects:Science > Astronomy
    Department:Faculty of Science > Physics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:12 Dec 2019 15:16
    Last modified:14 Apr 2024 00:50
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/70853
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