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A multiwavelength-motivated X-ray model for the Circinus Galaxy

Andonie, Carolina; Ricci, Claudio; Paltani, Stéphane; Arévalo, Patricia; Treister, Ezequiel; Bauer, Franz; Stalevski, Marko

A multiwavelength-motivated X-ray model for the Circinus Galaxy Thumbnail


Authors

Claudio Ricci

Stéphane Paltani

Patricia Arévalo

Ezequiel Treister

Franz Bauer

Marko Stalevski



Abstract

Reprocessed X-ray emission in active galactic nuclei can provide fundamental information about the circumnuclear environments of supermassive black holes. Recent mid-infrared studies have shown evidence of an extended dusty structure perpendicular to the torus plane. In this work, we build a self-consistent X-ray model for the Circinus Galaxy including the different physical components observed at different wavelengths and needed to reproduce both the morphological and spectral properties of this object in the mid-infrared. The model consists of four components: the accretion disc, the broad-line region (BLR), a flared disc in the equatorial plane, and a hollow cone in the polar direction. Our final model reproduces well the 3–70 keV Chandra and NuSTAR spectra of Circinus, including the complex Fe Kα zone and the spectral curvature, although several additional Gaussian lines, associated with either ionized iron or broadened Fe Kα/Kβ lines, are needed. We find that the flared disc is Compton-thick (NH,d = 1.01+0.03 −0.24 × 1025 cm−2) and geometrically thick (CF = 0.55+0.01 −0.05), and that the hollow cone has a Compton-thin column density (NH,c = 2.18+0.47 −0.43 × 1023 cm−2), which is consistent with the values inferred by mid-infrared studies. Including also the BLR, the effective line-of-sight column density is NH = 1.47+0.03 −0.24 × 1025 cm−2. This approach to X-ray modelling, i.e. including all the different reprocessing structures, will be very important to fully exploit data from future X-ray missions.

Citation

Andonie, C., Ricci, C., Paltani, S., Arévalo, P., Treister, E., Bauer, F., & Stalevski, M. (2022). A multiwavelength-motivated X-ray model for the Circinus Galaxy. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 511(4), 5768-5781. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac403

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 10, 2022
Online Publication Date Feb 16, 2022
Publication Date 2022-04
Deposit Date May 27, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 511
Issue 4
Pages 5768-5781
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac403
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1204373

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Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2022 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.





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