The effect of UV/Soft X-ray excess emission on the warm absorber properties of Active Galactic Nuclei -- A case study of IRAS 13349+2438

Abstract

The UV to X-ray continuum of active galactic nuclei (AGN) is important for maintaining the ionisation and thermal balance of the warm absorbers (WAs). However, the spectra in the sensitive energy range $\sim \,13.6 -300 \ev$ are unobservable due to Galactic extinction. Moreover, many AGN show soft X-ray excess emission of varying strength in the $0.1-2\kev$ band whose origin is still highly debated. This soft-excess connects to the UV bump in the unobserved region of $13.6 -300 \ev$. Here we investigate the effect of the assumed physical model for the soft-excess on the flux of the unobserved part of the spectrum and its effect on the WA properties. We perform a case study using the \xmm{} observations of the bright Seyfert 1 galaxy IRAS 13349+2438 with WA features. The two different physical models for the soft excess: blurred Compton reflection from an ionised disk, and, optically thick thermal Comptonisation of the disk photons, predict different fluxes in the unobserved energy range. However the current X-ray data quality does not allow us to distinguish between them using derived WA parameters. This, in turn, implies that it is difficult to determine the origin of the soft-excess emission using the warm absorber features.

Accepted for publication in the ApJ

References in corpus (4)

• An investigation of the origin of soft X-ray excess emission from Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies Akn564 and Mrk1044
• The Seyfert 1 Galaxy Mrk 335 at a very low flux state: mapping the soft X-ray photoionised gas
• A Cloudy/Xspec Interface
• Exploring the Nuclear Environment of the NLS1 Galaxy Arakelian 564 with XMM-Newton RGS

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Warm absorbers in X-rays (WAX), a comprehensive high resolution grating spectral study of a sample of Seyfert galaxies: I. A global view and frequency of occurrence of warm absorbers
• Gamma-ray Pulsar Revolution
• Warm Absorbers in X-rays (WAX), a comprehensive high resolution grating spectral study of a sample of Seyfert Galaxies: II. Warm Absorber dynamics and feedback to galaxies
• The eROSITA Final Equatorial Depth Survey (eFEDS): Complex absorption and soft excesses in hard X-ray--selected active galactic nuclei
• The hard X-ray perspective on the soft X-ray excess
• An X-ray view of central engines of low luminosity quasars (LLQSO) in the local Universe
• The extent of ionization in simulations of radio-loud AGNs impacting kpc gas discs
• The origin of the vanishing soft X-ray excess in the changing-look Active Galactic Nucleus Mrk 590
• An X-ray spectral study of the origin of reflection features in bare Seyfert 1 galaxy ESO 511--G030
• High Resolution X-ray Spectroscopy of the Seyfert 1, Mrk 1040. Revealing the Failed Nuclear Wind with Chandra
• The broad-band spectrum of the Narrow-line Seyfert 1 NGC 4748: from UV to hard X-ray
• A weakening Compton hump and soft X-ray excess detected in the Seyfert-1 galaxy MCG-02-58-22
• A radio, optical, UV and X-ray view of the enigmatic changing look Active Galactic Nucleus 1ES~1927+654 from its pre- to post-flare states