Multi-wavelength observations of the obscuring wind in the radio-quiet quasar MR 2251-178

Abstract

Obscuring winds driven away from active supermassive black holes are rarely seen due to their transient nature. They have been observed with multi-wavelength observations in a few Seyfert 1 galaxies and one broad absorption line radio-quiet quasar so far. An X-ray obscuration event in MR 2251-178 was caught in late 2020, which triggered multi-wavelength (NIR to X-ray) observations targeting this radio-quiet quasar. In the X-ray band, the obscurer leads to a flux drop in the soft X-ray band from late 2020 to early 2021. X-ray obscuration events might have a quasi-period of two decades considering earlier events in 1980 and 1996. In the UV band, a forest of weak blueshifted absorption features emerged in the blue wing of Ly$\alpha$ $\lambda 1216$ in late 2020. Our XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, and HST/COS observations are obtained simultaneously, hence, the transient X-ray obscuration event is expected to account for the UV outflow, although they are not necessarily caused by the same part of the wind. Both blueshifted and redshifted absorption features were found for He {\sc i} $\lambda 10830$, but no previous NIR spectra are available for comparison. The X-ray observational features of MR 2251-178 shared similarities with some other type 1 AGNs with obscuring wind. However, observational features in the UV to NIR bands are distinctly different from those seen in other AGN with obscuring winds. A general understanding of the observational variety and the nature of obscuring wind is still lacking.

arXiv commentApJ accepted

References in corpus (75)

• Maps of Dust IR Emission for Use in Estimation of Reddening and CMBR Foregrounds
• Astropy: A Community Python Package for Astronomy
• The Swift X-ray Telescope
• The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Mission
• The Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope
• Methods and results of an automatic analysis of a complete sample of Swift-XRT observations of GRBs
• Revisiting the Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei
• AGN Dusty Tori: II. Observational Implications of Clumpiness
• Calibration of X-ray absorption in our Galaxy
• Active Galactic Nuclei: what's in a name?
• Intrinsic disc emission and the Soft X-ray Excess in AGN
• The May 1989 outburst of the Soft X-ray Transient GS 2023+338 (V404 Cyg)
• Dynamics of Line-Driven Disk Winds in Active Galactic Nuclei II: Effects of Disk Radiation
• The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
• An Explanation for the soft X-ray excess in AGN
• Unification of X-ray winds in Seyfert galaxies: from ultra-fast outflows to warm absorbers
• Broad emission lines for negatively spinning black holes
• A Massive X-Ray Outflow from the Quasar PDS 456
• A fast and long-lived outflow from the supermassive black hole in NGC 5548
• First X-ray-Based Statistical Tests for Clumpy-Torus Models: Eclipse Events from 230 Years of Monitoring of Seyfert AGN
• On the use of C-stat in testing models for X-ray spectra
• Flows of X-ray gas reveal the disruption of a star by a massive black hole
• Ionized outflows from active galactic nuclei as the essential elements of feedback
• Anatomy of the AGN in NGC 5548: I. A global model for the broadband spectral energy distribution
• Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. I. Ultraviolet Observations of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 5548 with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on Hubble Space Telescope
• A characteristic optical variability timescale in astrophysical accretion disks
• On the size and location of the X-ray emitting coronae around black holes
• The response of relativistic outflowing gas to the inner accretion disk of a black hole
• Multiwavelength campaign on Mrk 509 XII. Broad band spectral analysis
• The Near-Infrared Broad Emission Line Region of Active Galactic Nuclei -- I. The Observations
• Systematic comparison of photoionised plasma codes with application to spectroscopic studies of AGN in X-rays
• The First INTEGRAL AGN Catalog
• Chasing obscuration in type-I AGN: discovery of an eclipsing clumpy wind at the outer broad-line region of NGC 3783
• Anatomy of the AGN in NGC 5548: II. The Spatial, Temporal and Physical Nature of the Outflow from HST/COS Observations
• An absorption event in the X-ray lightcurve of NGC 3227
• The rise of an ionized wind in the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy Mrk 335 observed by XMM-Newton and HST
• Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. IV. Anomalous behavior of the broad ultraviolet emission lines in NGC 5548
• Optical and Near-IR long-term monitoring of NGC3783 and MR2251-178: evidence for variable near-IR emission from thin accretion discs
• The NuSTAR view of reflection and absorption in NGC 7582
• Anatomy of the AGN in NGC 5548 VIII. XMM-Newton's EPIC detailed view of an unexpected variable multilayer absorber
• A wind-based unification model for NGC 5548: spectral holidays, non-disk emission, and implications for changing-look quasars
• Density diagnostics of ionized outflows in active galactic nuclei: X-ray and UV absorption lines from metastable levels in Be-like to C-like ions
• The nuclear environment of the NLS1 Mrk 335: obscuration of the X-ray line emission by a variable outflow
• UV line driven disc wind as the origin of ultrafast outflows in AGN
• Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. X. Understanding the Absorption-Line Holiday in NGC 5548
• Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. VIII. Time Variability of Emission and Absorption in NGC 5548 Based on Modeling the Ultraviolet Spectrum
• Modeling line-driven disk wind for broad absorption lines of quasars
• Photoionized emission and absorption features in the high-resolution X-ray spectra of NGC 3783
• Anatomy of the AGN in NGC 5548: VII. Swift study of obscuration and broadband continuum variability
• The XMM-Newton/HST view of the obscuring outflow in the Seyfert Galaxy Mrk 335 observed at extremely low X-ray flux
• Discovery of a fast, broad, transient outflow in NGC 985
• A rapid occultation event in NGC 3227
• The first spectroscopic dust reverberation programme on active galactic nuclei: the torus in NGC 5548
• A High Resolution View of the Warm Absorber in the Quasar MR2251-178
• Intrinsic Absorption Properties in Active Galaxies Observed with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer
• Changing-look event in NGC 3516: continuum or obscuration variability?
• Fast Inflow Directly Feeding Black Hole Accretion Disk in Quasars
• Recurring obscuration in NGC 3783
• HST/COS observations of the newly discovered obscuring outflow in NGC 3783
• Eclipsing the X-ray emitting region in the active galaxy NGC 6814
• Balmer and He I absorption in the nuclear spectrum of NGC 4151
• Anatomy of the AGN in NGC 5548 IX. Photoionized emission features in the soft X-ray spectra
• A Variable-Density Absorption Event in NGC 3227 mapped with Suzaku and Swift
• Transient obscuration event captured in NGC~3227 II. Warm absorbers and obscuration events in archival XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations
• Transient obscuration event captured in NGC 3227. I. Continuum model for the broadband spectral energy distribution
• BeppoSAX spectroscopy of MR 2251-178: a test for ionized reflection in radio quiet QSOs
• Photoionisation Modelling of the X-ray Emission Line Regions within the Seyfert 2 AGN NGC 1068
• The Inner Accretion Flow in the Resurgent Seyfert-1.2 AGN Mrk 817
• Broad He I 1.08 μm absorption from the obscurer in the active galaxy NGC 5548
• Transient obscuration event captured in NGC 3227 III. Photoionization modeling of the X-ray obscuration event in 2019
• X-ray obscuration from a variable ionized absorber in PG 1114+445
• The puzzling X-ray continuum of the quasar MR 2251-178
• Physical properties and the variability mechanism of the He I outflow in NGC 4151
• Broad-line Region Clouds orbiting an AGN sample
• The X-Rays wind connection in PG 2112+059

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Scientific Objectives of the Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor (HUBS) Mission
• Dimming of Continuum Captured in Mrk 841: New Clues on the Nature of the Soft X-ray Excess
• Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopy Of Active Galactic Nuclei With AstroSat/UVIT
• Radio Scrutiny of the X-ray-Weak Tail of Low-Mass Active Galactic Nuclei: A Novel Signature of High-Eddington Accretion?
• A Systematic Search for X-ray Eclipse Events in Active Galactic Nuclei Observed by Swift
• Warm absorber outflows in radio-loud active galactic nucleus 3C~59