Probing the unified model in NGC 7314

Abstract

We present a study of the complex absorbed X-ray spectrum of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7314. We collected available public X-ray data from the archives of XMM-Newton, Suzaku, and ASCA. The spectra were analyzed using the fitting package SPEX. We find evidence of intrinsic neutral and ionized absorption in the XMM-Newton EPIC-pn spectrum. The ionized gas presents three significantly distinct ionization phases, although its kinematic properties could not be disentangled. At least two of these phases are also detected in the RGS spectrum, although with less significance due to the low statistics. The ASCA and Suzaku spectra show larger neutral absorption but no ionized gas signatures. The Fe Kalpha emission line is detected in all the observations and, additionally, Fe XXVI in the EPIC-pn spectrum, and Fe Kbeta in the Suzaku XIS spectrum. Using this observational evidence we construct a consistent picture of the geometry of the system in the context of the unified model of active galactic nuclei. The different observational properties are thus interpreted as clouds of neutral gas moving across our line of sight, which would be grazing a clumpy dusty torus.

9 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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• Discovery of Fe K-alpha X-ray reverberation around the black holes in MCG-5-23-16 and NGC 7314
• Chandra Survey of Nearby Galaxies: The Catalog
• The variable and non-variable X-ray absorbers in Compton-thin type-II Active Galactic Nuclei
• The dust-gas AGN torus as constrained from X-ray and mid-infrared observations
• The role of the Gamma-Eddington ratio relation on the X-ray Baldwin effect in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Detection of faint broad emission lines in type 2 AGN: I. Near infrared observations and spectral fitting
• Extensive X-ray variability studies of NGC 7314 using long XMM-Newton observations
• Broad-line Region Clouds orbiting an AGN sample
• A closer look at NGC 7314 nuclear region: a multiwavelength analysis of the Seyfert nucleus and its surroundings