XMM-Newton unveils the type 2 nature of the BLRG 3C 445

Abstract

We present an observation of XMM-Newton that unambiguously reveals the ``Seyfert 2'' nature of the Broad Line Radio Galaxy 3C 445. For the first time the soft excess of this source has been resolved. It consists of unobscured scattered continuum flux and emission lines, likely produced in a warm photoionized gas near the pole of an obscuring torus. The presence of circumnuclear (likely stratified) matter is supported by the complex obscuration of the nuclear region. Seventy percent of the nuclear radiation (first component) is indeed obscured by a column density ~4*10^{23} cm^{-2}, and 30 % (second component) is filtered by ~7* 10^{22} cm^{-2}. The first component is nuclear radiation directly observed by transmission through the thicker regions. The second one is of more uncertain nature. If the observer has a deep view into the nucleus but near the edge of the torus, it could be light scattered by the inner wall of the torus and/or by photoionized gas within the Broad Line Region observed through the thinner rim of the circumnuclear matter.

MNRAS Letters, in press

References in corpus (2)

• On the origin of soft X-rays in obscured AGN: answers from high-resolution spectroscopy with XMM-Newton
• Evidence for Line Broadening by Electron Scattering in the Broad Line Region of NGC 4395

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• Structure of the Accretion Flow in Broad-Line Radio Galaxies: The Case of 3C390.3
• 3C 33: another case of photoionized soft X-ray emission in radio galaxies
• Heavy absorption and soft X-ray emission lines in the XMM-Newton spectrum of the Type 2 radio-loud quasar 3C 234