The Phoenix galaxy as seen by NuSTAR

Abstract

Aims. We study the long-term variability of the well-known Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 1210 (a.k.a. UGC 4203, or the Phoenix galaxy). Methods. The source was observed by many X-ray facilities in the last 20 years. Here we present a NuSTAR observation and put the results in context of previously published observations. Results. NuSTAR observed Mrk 1210 in 2012 for 15.4 ks. The source showed Compton-thin obscuration similar to that observed by Chandra, Suzaku, BeppoSAX and XMM-Newton over the past two decades, but different from the first observation by ASCA in 1995, in which the active nucleus was caught in a low flux state - or obscured by Compton-thick matter, with a reflection-dominated spectrum. Thanks to the high-quality hard X-ray spectrum obtained with NuSTAR and exploiting the long-term spectral coverage spanning 16.9 years, we can precisely disentangle the transmission and reflection components and put constraints on both the intrinsic long-term variability and hidden nucleus scenarios. In the former case, the distance between the reflector and the source must be at least ~ 2 pc, while in the latter one the eclipsing cloud may be identified with a water maser-emitting clump.

10 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (6)

• NuSTAR and XMM-Newton Observations of NGC 1365: Extreme Absorption Variability and a Constant Inner Accretion Disk
• XMM-Newton broad-band observations of NGC 7582: Nh variations and fading out of the active nucleus
• The Multi-Layer Variable Absorbers in NGC 1365 Revealed by XMM-Newton and NuSTAR
• Delving Into X-ray Obscuration of Type 2 AGN, Near and Far
• Suzaku observation of the Phoenix Galaxy
• The nature of the soft X-ray emission in obscured AGN

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