A Compton-thin Solution for the Suzaku X-ray Spectrum of the Seyfert 2 Galaxy Mkn 3

Abstract

Mkn 3 is a Seyfert 2 galaxy that is widely regarded as an exemplary Compton-thick AGN. We study the Suzaku X-ray spectrum using models of the X-ray reprocessor that self-consistently account for the Fe K$\alpha$ fluorescent emission line and the associated Compton-scattered, or reflection, continuum. We find a solution in which the average global column density, $0.234_{-0.010}^{+0.012}\times 10^{24}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}$, is very different to the line-of-sight column density, $0.902_{-0.013}^{+0.012}\times 10^{24}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}$. The global column density is $\sim 5$ times smaller than that required for the matter distribution to be Compton-thick. Our model accounts for the profiles of the Fe K$\alpha$ and Fe K$\beta$ lines, and the Fe K edge remarkably well, with a solar abundance of Fe. The matter distribution could consist of a clumpy medium with a line-of-sight column density higher than the global average. A uniform, spherically-symmetric distribution alone cannot simultaneously produce the correct fluorescent line spectrum and reflection continuum. Previous works on Mkn 3, and other AGN, that assumed a reflection continuum from matter with an infinite column density could therefore lead to erroneous or "puzzling" conclusions if the matter out of the line-of-sight is really Compton-thin. Whereas studies of samples of AGN have generally only probed the line-of-sight column density, with simplistic, one-dimensional models, it is important now to establish the global column densities in AGN. It is the global properties that affect the energy budget in terms of reprocessing of X-rays into infrared emission, and that constrain population synthesis models of the cosmic X-ray background.

arXiv commentAccepted by MNRAS, 23 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables

References in corpus (41)

• Unified Schemes for Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• Atomic Data for Astrophysics. II. New Analytic Fits for Photoionization Cross Sections of Atoms and Ions
• The synthesis of the cosmic X-ray background in the Chandra and XMM-Newton era
• AGN Black Hole Masses and Bolometric Luminosities
• AGN Dusty Tori: II. Observational Implications of Clumpiness
• Toward the Standard Population Synthesis Model of the X-Ray Background: Evolution of X-Ray Luminosity and Absorption Functions of Active Galactic Nuclei Including Compton-Thick Populations
• Hard X-ray Detector (HXD) on Board Suzaku
• An X-ray Spectral Model for Compton-Thick Toroidal Reprocessors
• The Discovery of the First "Changing Look" Quasar: New Insights into the Physics & Phenomenology of AGN
• The Mid-IR Properties of Starburst Galaxies from Spitzer-IRS Spectroscopy
• An XMM-Newton spectral survey of 12 micron selected galaxies. I. X-ray data
• Changing look: from Compton-thick to Compton-thin, or the re-birth of fossil AGN
• First X-ray-Based Statistical Tests for Clumpy-Torus Models: Eclipse Events from 230 Years of Monitoring of Seyfert AGN
• A Catalog of Candidate Intermediate-luminosity X-ray Objects
• Smooth and Clumpy Dust Distribution in AGN: a Direct Comparison of two Commonly Explored Infrared Emission Models
• The Nature of the Compton-thick X-ray Reprocessor in NGC 4945
• The Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Observation of an X-ray Ionization Cone in Markarian 3
• 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
• ASCA observations of type-2 Seyfert galaxies: II. The Importance of X-ray Scattering and Reflection
• Seyfert galaxies in the local Universe (z$\le$ 0.1): the average X-ray spectrum as seen by $BeppoSAX$
• The power output of local obscured and unobscured AGN: crossing the absorption barrier with Swift/BAT and IRAS
• The iron Kalpha Compton Shoulder in transmitted and reflected spectra
• Study on X-ray Spectra of Obscured AGNs based on Monte Carlo simulation - an interpretation of observed wide-band spectra
• The Toroidal Obscuration of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Fe-K line probing of material around the AGN central engine with Suzaku
• Chandra High Energy Grating Observations of the Fe Ka Line Core in Type 2 Seyfert Galaxies: A Comparison with Type 1 Nuclei
• Determining the covering factor of Compton-thick active galactic nuclei with NuSTAR
• The XMM-Newton view of Mrk3 and IXO30
• An X-ray spectral model for clumpy tori in active galactic nuclei
• Chandra monitoring of UGC 4203: the structure of the X-ray absorber
• NGC454: unveiling a new "changing look" AGN
• The Compton shoulder of the Fe Kalpha fluorescent emission line in active galactic nuclei
• ASTE Observations of Warm Gas in Low-mass Protostellar Envelopes: Different Kinematics between Submillimeter and Millimeter Lines
• A direct comparison of X-ray spectral models for tori in active galactic nuclei
• Delving Into X-ray Obscuration of Type 2 AGN, Near and Far
• On the Lx-L6micron ratio as a diagnostic for Compton-thick AGN
• The Global Implications of the Hard X-ray Excess in Type 1 AGN
• Monte Carlo simulations of the Nickel K$\alpha$ fluorescent emission line in a toroidal geometry
• The broad-band X-ray spectrum of Mrk 3
• The X-ray variability history of Markarian 3
• The energy budget for X-ray to infrared reprocessing in Compton-thin and Compton-thick active galaxies

Cited by in corpus (35)

• New Spectral Model for Constraining Torus Covering Factors from Broadband X-ray Spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei
• X-Ray Spectral Model from Clumpy Torus and Its Application to Circinus Galaxy
• Compton thick AGN in the NuSTAR era
• Compton-Thick AGN in the NuSTAR era VI: The observed Compton-thick fraction in the Local Universe
• Compton-thick AGN in the NuSTAR era III: A systematic study of the torus covering factor
• The weak neutral Fe fluorescence line and long-term X-ray evolution of the Compton-thick AGN in NGC 7674
• Suzaku Observations of Heavily Obscured (Compton-thick) Active Galactic Nuclei selected by Swift/BAT Hard X-ray Survey
• Probing the circumnuclear absorbing medium of the buried AGN in NGC 1068 through NuSTAR observations
• Compton-Thick AGN in the NuSTAR era VIII: A joint NuSTAR-XMM-Newton monitoring of the changing-look Compton-thick AGN NGC 1358
• Broadband X-Ray Observations of the 2018 Outburst of the Changing-Look Active Galactic Nucleus NGC 1566
• The nature of the torus in the heavily obscured AGN Markarian 3: an X-ray study
• Compton-thick AGN in the NuSTAR era II: A deep NuSTAR and XMM-Newton view of the candidate Compton thick AGN in NGC 1358
• Investigating Changing-Look Active Galactic Nuclei with Long-term Optical and X-Ray Observations
• Compton-thick AGN in the NuSTAR era IV: A deep NuSTAR and XMM-Newton view of the candidate Compton thick AGN in ESO 116-G018
• The Hunt for Red Quasars: Luminous Obscured Black Hole Growth Unveiled in the Stripe 82 X-ray Survey
• Evidence for a clumpy disc-wind in the star forming Seyfert\,2 galaxy MCG--03--58--007
• Compton-thick AGNs in the NuSTAR era. V: Joint NuSTAR and XMM-Newton spectral analysis of three "soft-Gamma" candidate CT-AGNs in the Swift-BAT 100-month catalog
• No Signatures of Black-Hole Spin in the X-ray Spectrum of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy Fairall 9
• Compton-Thick AGN in the NuSTAR era VII. A joint NuSTAR, Chandra and XMM-Newton analysis of two nearby, heavily obscured sources
• Probing Nuclear and Circumnuclear Properties of NGC 6300 using X-ray Observations
• Properties of the Obscuring Torus in NGC 1052 from Multi-epoch Broadband X-ray Spectroscopy
• A multi-epoch X-ray study of the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 7479: Linking column density variability to the torus geometry
• New Constraints on the Geometry and Kinematics of Matter Surrounding the Accretion Flow in X-ray Binaries from $Chandra$ HETG X-ray Spectroscopy
• Compton Shoulder Diagnostics in Active Galactic Nuclei for Probing the Metalicity of the Obscuring Compton-Thick Tori
• BASS. XLIX. Characterization of highly luminous and obscured AGNs: local X-ray and [NeV]$\lambda$3426 emission in comparison with the high-redshift Universe
• The clumpy torus around type II AGN as revealed by X-ray fluorescent lines
• The X-ray emission of the Seyfert 2 galaxy MCG-01-24-12
• Are Compton-thin AGNs Globally Compton Thin?
• Probing the Extent of Fe K$\alpha$ Emission in Nearby Active Galactic Nuclei using Multi-Order Analysis of Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Data
• Absorption Variability of the Highly Obscured Active Galactic Nucleus NGC 4507
• The obscured active nucleus of NGC 7172 as seen by NuSTAR
• The Complex X-ray Obscuration Environment in the Radio Loud Type 2 Quasar 3C 223
• Broad Band X-ray Constraints on the Accreting Black Hole in Quasar 4C 74.26
• Elucidating the global distribution of reprocessing gas in NGC 1194
• A broadband X-ray study of a sample of AGNs with [OIII] measured inclinations