Tracing a Disk Wind in NGC 3516

Abstract

X-ray spectra of AGN often contain signatures indicative of absorption in multiple layers of gas whose ionization-state and covering fraction may vary with time. It has been unclear to date how much of the observed X-ray spectral and timing behavior in AGN can be attributed to variations in absorption, versus variations in the strengths of emission or reflection components. Diagnostics of the inner regions of AGN cannot be reliably performed until the origin of observed effects is understood. We investigate the role of the X-ray absorbers in the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 3516. Time-averaged and flux-selected spectroscopy is used to examine the behavior of NGC 3516 observed in Chandra HETG and XMM data from Oct 2006. New H-like and He-like emission and absorption features discovered in the Fe K regime reveal a previously unknown zone of circumnuclear gas in NGC 3516 with log xi ~ 4.3 and column density 1E23 cm^-2. A lower-ionization layer with log xi ~2 and of similar column density is confirmed from previous observations, this layer has a covering fraction around 50%, and changes in covering provide a simple explanation of a deep dip in the light curve that we interpret as an eclipse of the continuum due to passage of a cloud across the sight line within half a day. These inner zones of absorbing gas are detected to have outflow velocities in the range 1000-2000 km/s, this, and constraints on radial location are consistent with an origin as part of a disk wind in NGC 3516.

10 pages, 8 figures, accepted by A&A Feb 26 2008 Version 2: Figs 1 & 2 were corrected for a problem with ACIS section of the data. Little impact on text of the paper

References in corpus (20)

• ASCA observations of Seyfert 1 galaxies: II. Relativistic Iron K-alpha emission
• Broad iron lines in Active Galactic Nuclei
• The nature and origin of Seyfert warm absorbers
• Photoionization Modeling and the K Lines of Iron
• The Ionized Gas and Nuclear Environment in NGC 3783. I. Time-Averaged 900 ks Chandra Grating Spectroscopy
• Occultation measurement of the size of the X-ray emitting region in the Active Galactic Nucleus of NGC 1365
• The Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Observation of an X-ray Ionization Cone in Markarian 3
• ROSAT monitoring of persistent giant and rapid variability in the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy IRAS 13224-3809
• Narrow Components within the Fe Kalpha Profile of NGC 3516: Evidence for the Importance of General Relativistic Effects?
• The XMM-Newton Iron Line Profile of NGC 3783
• A Kinematic Model for the Narrow-Line Region in NGC 4151
• Flux and energy modulation of redshifted iron emission in NGC3516: implications for the black hole mass
• Simultaneous Ultraviolet and X-ray Observations of the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 4151. I. Physical Conditions in the X-ray Absorbers
• Complex X-ray Absorption and the Fe Kalpha Profile in NGC 3516
• A Chandra HETGS Spectral Study of the Iron K Bandpass in MCG-6-30-15: A Narrow View of the Broad Iron Line
• Occultation Mapping of the Central Engine in the Active Galaxy MCG -6-30-15
• Probing the Kinematics of the Narrow-Line Region in Seyfert Galaxies with Slitless Spectroscopy: Observational Results
• Resolving the large scale spectral variability of the luminous Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0419-577: Evidence for a new emission component and absorption by cold dense matter
• Consistency of the black hole mass determination in AGN from the reverberation and the X-ray excess variance method
• A Photoionization Model For The Soft X-Ray Spectrum Of NGC 4151

Cited by in corpus (65)

• Evidence for ultra-fast outflows in radio-quiet AGNs: I - detection and statistical incidence of Fe K-shell absorption lines
• Quasar Feedback: More Bang for Your Buck
• The Suzaku view of highly-ionised outflows in AGN: I - Statistical detection and global absorber properties
• A fast and long-lived outflow from the supermassive black hole in NGC 5548
• Evidence for ultra-fast outflows in radio-quiet AGNs: II - detailed photo-ionization modeling of Fe K-shell absorption lines
• First X-ray-Based Statistical Tests for Clumpy-Torus Models: Eclipse Events from 230 Years of Monitoring of Seyfert AGN
• Stellar and Quasar Feedback in Concert: Effects on AGN Accretion, Obscuration, and Outflows
• Intermediate mass black holes in AGN disks II. Model predictions & observational constraints
• The Cores of the Fe K$\alpha$ Lines in Active Galactic Nuclei: an Extended Chandra High Energy Grating Sample
• X-ray Absorption and Reflection in Active Galactic Nuclei
• "Comets" orbiting a black hole
• FERO: Finding Extreme Relativistic Objects. I. Statistics of Relativistic Fe Kalpha lines in Radio-Quiet Type 1 AGN
• RE J1034+396: The origin of the soft X-ray excess and QPO
• The impact of accretion disk winds on the X-ray spectrum of AGN: Part 2 - XSCORT + Hydrodynamic Simulations
• Short term X-ray spectral variability of the quasar PDS 456 observed in a low flux state
• A remarkable long-term light curve, and deep, low-state spectroscopy: Swift & XMM-Newton monitoring of the NLS1 galaxy Mkn 335
• Suzaku Observation of a Hard Excess in 1H 0419-577: Detection of a Compton-Thick Partial-Covering Absorber
• Full Spectral Survey of Active Galactic Nuclei in the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Archive
• A long term study of AGN X-ray variability. Structure function analysis on a ROSAT-XMM quasar sample
• A Comprehensive X-ray Spectral Analysis of the Seyfert 1.5 NGC 3227
• Multiphase, non-spherical gas accretion onto a black hole
• Contemporaneous Chandra HETG and Suzaku X-ray Observations of NGC 4051
• The Multi-Layer Variable Absorbers in NGC 1365 Revealed by XMM-Newton and NuSTAR
• Discovery of Broad Soft X-ray Absorption Lines from the Quasar Wind in PDS 456
• Searching for the trigger of the AGN QPO: 8 years of RE J1034+396
• X-ray Characteristics of NGC 3516: A View through the Complex Absorber
• Modeling the Fe K Line Profiles in Type I AGN with a Compton-Thick Disk Wind
• An Occultation Event in Centaurus A and the Clumpy Torus Model
• Spectral Survey of X-Ray Bright Active Galactic Nuclei from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
• Variability of the High Velocity Outflow in the Quasar PDS 456
• A rapid occultation event in NGC 3227
• A Variable Partial Covering Model for the Seyfert 1 Galaxy MCG-6-30-15
• On the diversity and complexity of absorption line profiles produced by outflows in Active Galactic Nuclei
• A High Resolution View of the Warm Absorber in the Quasar MR2251-178
• The Ultraviolet-X-ray connection in AGN outflows
• Probing variability patterns of the Fe K line complex in bright nearby AGNs
• Changing-look event in NGC 3516: continuum or obscuration variability?
• The Global Implications of the Hard X-ray Excess in Type 1 AGN
• A deep X-ray view of the bare AGN Ark 120. I. Revealing the Soft X-ray Line Emission
• A broad-band X-ray view of the Warm Absorber in radio-quiet quasar MR2251-178
• The warm absorber and X-ray variability of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 3516 as seen by the XMM-Newton RGS
• 1ES 1927+654: a bare Seyfert 2
• Synthetic X-ray spectra for simulations of the dynamics of an accretion flow irradiated by a quasar
• A Variable-Density Absorption Event in NGC 3227 mapped with Suzaku and Swift
• X-Ray Absorption Analysis of NGC3516: Appearance of Fast Components with Increased Source Flux
• Multi-wavelength Probes of Obscuration Towards the Narrow Line Region in Seyfert Galaxies
• Suzaku Monitoring of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC5548: Warm Absorber Location and its Implication for Cosmic Feedback
• Significant Suppression of Star Formation in Radio-Quiet AGN Host Galaxies with Kiloparsec-Scale Radio Structures
• Evidence for a circum-nuclear and ionised absorber in the X-ray obscured BroadLine Radio Galaxy 3C 445
• Decoupling absorption and continuum variability in the Seyfert 2 NGC 4507
• Tracking the Complex Absorption in NGC 2110 with Two Suzaku Observations
• Long-term X-ray stability and UV variability of the ionized absorption in NGC 3783
• Suzaku Discovery of a Slowly Varying Hard X-ray Continuum from the Type I Seyfert Galaxy NGC 3516
• Multi-Zone warm and cold clumpy absorbers in 3 Seyfert galaxies
• A detailed analysis of the high resolution X-ray spectra of NGC 3516: Variability of the ionized absorbers
• Significant X-ray Line Emission in the 5-6 keV band of NGC 4051
• Stellar transits in active galactic nuclei
• The Optical Variability of SDSS Quasars from Multi-epoch Spectroscopy. III. A Sudden UV Cutoff in Quasar SDSS J2317+0005
• Broad-line Region Clouds orbiting an AGN sample
• High Resolution X-ray Spectroscopy of the Seyfert 1, Mrk 1040. Revealing the Failed Nuclear Wind with Chandra
• X-ray spectral and temporal analysis of Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy Was 61
• A Systematic Search for X-ray Eclipse Events in Active Galactic Nuclei Observed by Swift
• The Global Implications of the Hard Excess II: Analysis of the Local population of Radio Quiet AGN
• Constraining black hole spin in PG 1535+547 amidst complex multi-layered absorption
• Delving into the depths of NGC 3783 with XRISM: V. Broad-band modeling of ionized outflows