Origin of the complex iron line structure and spectral variation in Mrk 766

Abstract

Complex Fe-K emission/absorption line features are commonly observed in the 6--11 keV band from Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). These features are formed in various physical components surrounding the black holes. The Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy Mrk 766, in particular, exhibits characteristic blue-shifted Fe-K absorption lines caused by the ultra-fast outflow (UFO), and a broad Fe-K emission line, as well as variable absorbers partially covering the X-ray emitting region. We re-analyze the Mrk 766 archival data of XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, and Swift to investigate the origin of the Fe-K line feature and the 0.3--79 keV energy spectral variation. We have found that the spectral variation in $\lesssim$10 keV is primarily explained by the variable partial covering of the central X-ray source by multi-layer absorbing clouds. The Fe-K line feature consists of the blue-shifted absorption lines due to the UFO, a narrow emission line from the distant material, a broad emission line from the inner-disk reflection, and a slightly broadened weak emission line at around 6.4--6.7 keV whose equivalent width is $\sim$0.05 keV. The last one is presumably due to the resonance scattering in the UFO out of the line-of-sight, as predicted by a Monte Carlo simulation based on the hydrodynamical UFO modeling. We suggest that the seemingly complex Fe-K line features and the X-ray energy spectra of Mrk 766 are explained by a moderately extended central X-ray source around a Schwarzschild black hole, an optically thick accretion disk with a truncated inner-radius, the UFO, multi-layer partial covering clouds, and a torus.

11 pages, 7 figures, Published in MNRAS

References in corpus (19)

• An XMM-Newton survey of broad iron lines in Seyfert galaxies
• The AGN Black Hole Mass Database
• The role of the reflection fraction in constraining black hole spin
• A fast and long-lived outflow from the supermassive black hole in NGC 5548
• A Compton-thick Wind in the High Luminosity Quasar, PDS 456
• The XMM-Newton long look of NGC 1365: uncovering of the obscured X-ray source
• The variable X-ray spectrum of Markarian 766 - I. Principal components analysis
• Multi-dimensional modelling of X-ray spectra for AGN accretion-disk outflows
• The origin of ultra-fast outflows in AGN: Monte-Carlo simulations of the wind in PDS 456
• The Variable X-ray Spectrum of Markarian 766 - II. Time-Resolved Spectroscopy
• The Effect of Returning Radiation on Relativistic Reflection
• Variable iron-line emission near the black hole of Markarian 766
• Interpretation of the X-ray Spectral Variation of 1H0707-495 with a Variable Double Partial Covering Model
• Application of Clumpy Torus Model to Broadband X-ray Spectra of Two Seyfert 1 Galaxies: IC 4329A and NGC 7469
• Revising the merger scenario of the galaxy cluster Abell 1644: a new gas poor structure discovered by weak gravitational lensing
• Complex Narrow Line Seyfert 1s: High spin or high inclination?
• Origin of the Characteristic X-ray Spectral Variations of IRAS 13224$-$3809
• MPI_XSTAR: MPI-based Parallelization of the XSTAR Photoionization Program
• Simple interpretation of the seemingly complicated X-ray spectral variation of NGC 5548

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Structured ionized winds shooting out from a quasar at relativistic speeds