The Variable Hard X-Ray Emission of NGC 4945 as Observed by NuSTAR

Puccetti, S.; Comastri, A.; Fiore, F.; Arévalo, P.; Risaliti, G.; Bauer, F.E.; Brandt, W.N.; Stern, D.; Harrison, F.A.; Alexander, D.M.; Boggs, S.E.; Christensen, F.E.; Craig, W.W.; Gandhi, P.; Hailey, C.J.; Koss, M.J.; Lansbury, G.B.; Luo, B.; Madejski, G.M.; Matt, G.; Walton, D.J.; Zhang, W

doi:10.1088/0004-637x/793/1/26

The Variable Hard X-Ray Emission of NGC 4945 as Observed by NuSTAR

Puccetti, S.; Comastri, A.; Fiore, F.; Arévalo, P.; Risaliti, G.; Bauer, F.E.; Brandt, W.N.; Stern, D.; Harrison, F.A.; Alexander, D.M.; Boggs, S.E.; Christensen, F.E.; Craig, W.W.; Gandhi, P.; Hailey, C.J.; Koss, M.J.; Lansbury, G.B.; Luo, B.; Madejski, G.M.; Matt, G.; Walton, D.J.; Zhang, W

Authors

S. Puccetti

A. Comastri

F. Fiore

P. Arévalo

G. Risaliti

F.E. Bauer

W.N. Brandt

D. Stern

F.A. Harrison

Professor David Alexander d.m.alexander@durham.ac.uk
Professor

S.E. Boggs

F.E. Christensen

W.W. Craig

P. Gandhi

C.J. Hailey

M.J. Koss

G.B. Lansbury

B. Luo

G.M. Madejski

G. Matt

D.J. Walton

W Zhang

Abstract

We present a broadband (~0.5-79 keV) spectral and temporal analysis of multiple NuSTAR observations combined with archival Suzaku and Chandra data of NGC 4945, the brightest extragalactic source at 100 keV. We observe hard X-ray (>10 keV) flux and spectral variability, with flux variations of a factor of two on timescales of 20 ks. A variable primary continuum dominates the high-energy spectrum (>10 keV) in all states, while the reflected/scattered flux that dominates at E <10 keV stays approximately constant. From modeling the complex reflection/transmission spectrum, we derive a Compton depth along the line of sight of τThomson ~ 2.9, and a global covering factor for the circumnuclear gas of ~0.15. This agrees with the constraints derived from the high-energy variability, which implies that most of the high-energy flux is transmitted rather than Compton-scattered. This demonstrates the effectiveness of spectral analysis at constraining the geometric properties of the circumnuclear gas, and validates similar methods used for analyzing the spectra of other bright, Compton-thick active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The lower limits on the e-folding energy are between 200 and 300 keV, consistent with previous BeppoSAX, Suzaku, and Swift Burst Alert Telescope observations. The accretion rate, estimated from the X-ray luminosity and assuming a bolometric correction typical of type 2 AGN, is in the range ~0.1-0.3 λEdd depending on the flux state. The substantial observed X-ray luminosity variability of NGC 4945 implies that large errors can arise from using single-epoch X-ray data to derive L/L Edd values for obscured AGNs.

Citation

Puccetti, S., Comastri, A., Fiore, F., Arévalo, P., Risaliti, G., Bauer, F., …Zhang, W. (2014). The Variable Hard X-Ray Emission of NGC 4945 as Observed by NuSTAR. Astrophysical Journal, 793(1), Article 26. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/793/1/26

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jul 14, 2014
Publication Date	Sep 20, 2014
Deposit Date	May 15, 2015
Publicly Available Date	May 21, 2015
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Print ISSN	0004-637X
Electronic ISSN	1538-4357
Publisher	American Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	793
Issue	1
Article Number	26
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/793/1/26
Keywords	Galaxies: active, Galaxies: individual (NGC 4945), X-rays: galaxies.
Related Public URLs	http://arxiv.org/pdf/1407.3974v1.pdf