Lifting the curtain: The Seyfert galaxy Mrk 335 emerges from deep low-state in a sequence of rapid flare events

Abstract

The narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 335 was one of the X-ray brightest AGN, but it has systematically faded since 2007. Here, we report the discovery with Swift of a sequence of bright and rapid X-ray flare events that reveal the emergence of Mrk 335 from its ultra-deep multiyear low state. Results are based on our dedicated multiyear monitoring with Swift. Unlike other bright AGN, the optical-UV is generally not correlated with the X-rays in Mrk 335 on a timescale of days to months. This fact either implies the absence of a direct link between the two emission components; or else implies that the observed X-rays are significantly affected by (dust-free) absorption along our l.o.s. The UV and optical, however, are closely correlated at the 99.99 percent confidence level. The UV is leading the optical by delta t = 1.5+/-1.5 d. The Swift X-ray spectrum shows strong deviations from a single power law in all brightness states of the outbursts, indicating that significant absorption or reprocessing is taking place. Mrk 335 displays a softer-when-brighter variability pattern at intermediate X-ray levels, which has been seen in our Swift data since 2007 (based on a total of 590 observations). This pattern breaks down at the highest and lowest count rates. We interpret the 2020 brightening of Mrk 335 as a decrease in column density and covering factor of a partial-covering absorber along our line of sight in form of a clumpy accretion-disk wind that reveals an increasing portion of the intrinsic emission of Mrk 335 from the disk and/or corona region, while the optical emission-line regions receive a less variable spectral energy distribution. This then also explains why Mrk 335 was never seen to change its optical Seyfert type (not 'changing look') despite its factor 50 X-ray variability with Swift.

A&A Letters, appeared in Vol. 643, L7

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Science objectives of the Einstein Probe mission
• UV/Optical disk reverberation lags despite a faint X-ray corona in the AGN Mrk 335
• What controls the UV-to-X-ray continuum shape in quasars?
• VLBI Observations of a sample of Palomar-Green quasars I: parsec-scale morphology
• Changing Accretion Geometry of Seyfert 1 Mrk 335 with {\it NuSTAR}: A Comparative Study
• A systematic study of photoionized emission and warm absorption signatures of the NLS1 Mrk 335
• Effects of ultra-fast outflows on X-ray time lags in AGN
• A Systematic Search for X-ray Eclipse Events in Active Galactic Nuclei Observed by Swift
• Modelling the energy dependent X-ray variability of Mrk 335