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A NuSTAR Survey of Nearby Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

Teng, S.H.; Rigby, J.R.; Stern, D.; Ptak, A.; Alexander, D.M.; Bauer, F.E.; Boggs, S.E.; Brandt, W.N.; Christensen, F.E.; Comastri, A.; Craig, W.W.; Farrah, D.; Gandhi, P.; Hailey, C.J.; Harrison, F.A.; Hickox, R.C.; Koss, M.; Luo, B.; Treister, E.; Zhang, W.W.

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Authors

S.H. Teng

J.R. Rigby

D. Stern

A. Ptak

F.E. Bauer

S.E. Boggs

W.N. Brandt

F.E. Christensen

A. Comastri

W.W. Craig

D. Farrah

P. Gandhi

C.J. Hailey

F.A. Harrison

R.C. Hickox

M. Koss

B. Luo

E. Treister

W.W. Zhang



Abstract

We present a Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), Chandra, and XMM-Newton survey of nine of the nearest ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). The unprecedented sensitivity of NuSTAR at energies above 10 keV enables spectral modeling with far better precision than was previously possible. Six of the nine sources observed were detected sufficiently well by NuSTAR to model in detail their broadband X-ray spectra, and recover the levels of obscuration and intrinsic X-ray luminosities. Only one source (IRAS 13120–5453) has a spectrum consistent with a Compton-thick active galactic nucleus (AGN), but we cannot rule out that a second source (Arp 220) harbors an extremely highly obscured AGN as well. Variability in column density (reduction by a factor of a few compared to older observations) is seen in IRAS 05189–2524 and Mrk 273, altering the classification of these borderline sources from Compton-thick to Compton-thin. The ULIRGs in our sample have surprisingly low observed fluxes in high-energy (>10 keV) X-rays, especially compared to their bolometric luminosities. They have lower ratios of unabsorbed 2–10 keV to bolometric luminosity, and unabsorbed 2–10 keV to mid-IR [O iv] line luminosity than do Seyfert 1 galaxies. We identify IRAS 08572+3915 as another candidate intrinsically X-ray weak source, similar to Mrk 231. We speculate that the X-ray weakness of IRAS 08572+3915 is related to its powerful outflow observed at other wavelengths.

Citation

Teng, S., Rigby, J., Stern, D., Ptak, A., Alexander, D., Bauer, F., …Zhang, W. (2015). A NuSTAR Survey of Nearby Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies. Astrophysical Journal, 814(1), Article 56. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/814/1/56

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Nov 17, 2015
Publication Date Nov 17, 2015
Deposit Date May 31, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Astrophysical Journal
Print ISSN 0004-637X
Electronic ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher American Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 814
Issue 1
Article Number 56
DOI https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/814/1/56
Related Public URLs http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015ApJ...814...56T

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Copyright Statement
© 2015. The American Astronomical Society.





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