The Phoenix galaxy as seen by NuSTAR

Masini, A.; Comastri, A.; Puccetti, S.; Baloković, M.; Gandhi, P.; Guainazzi, M.; Bauer, F.E.; Boggs, S.E.; Boorman, P.G.; Brightman, M.; Christensen, F.E.; Craig, W.W.; Farrah, D.; Hailey, C.J.; Harrison, F.A.; Koss, M.J.; LaMassa, S.M.; Ricci, C.; Stern, D.; Walton, D.J.; Zhang, W.W.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629444

The Phoenix galaxy as seen by NuSTAR

Masini, A.; Comastri, A.; Puccetti, S.; Baloković, M.; Gandhi, P.; Guainazzi, M.; Bauer, F.E.; Boggs, S.E.; Boorman, P.G.; Brightman, M.; Christensen, F.E.; Craig, W.W.; Farrah, D.; Hailey, C.J.; Harrison, F.A.; Koss, M.J.; LaMassa, S.M.; Ricci, C.; Stern, D.; Walton, D.J.; Zhang, W.W.

Authors

A. Masini

A. Comastri

S. Puccetti

M. Baloković

P. Gandhi

M. Guainazzi

F.E. Bauer

S.E. Boggs

P.G. Boorman

M. Brightman

F.E. Christensen

W.W. Craig

D. Farrah

C.J. Hailey

F.A. Harrison

M.J. Koss

S.M. LaMassa

C. Ricci

D. Stern

D.J. Walton

W.W. Zhang

Abstract

Aims. We study the long-term variability of the well-known Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 1210 (also known as UGC 4203, or the Phoenix galaxy). Methods. The source was observed by many X-ray facilities in the last 20 yr. Here we present a NuSTAR observation and put the results in the context of previously published observations. Results. NuSTAR observed Mrk 1210 in 2012 for 15.4 ks. The source showed Compton-thin obscuration similar to that observed by Chandra, Suzaku, BeppoSAX and XMM-Newton over the past two decades, but different from the first observation by ASCA in 1995, in which the active nucleus was caught in a low flux state or was obscured by Compton-thick matter with a reflection-dominated spectrum. Thanks to the high-quality hard X-ray spectrum obtained with NuSTAR and exploiting the long-term spectral coverage spanning 16.9 yr, we can precisely disentangle the transmission and reflection components and put constraints on both the intrinsic long-term variability and hidden nucleus scenarios. In the former case, the distance between the reflector and the source must be at least ~2 pc, while in the latter the eclipsing cloud may be identified with a water maser-emitting clump.

Citation

Masini, A., Comastri, A., Puccetti, S., Baloković, M., Gandhi, P., Guainazzi, M., …Zhang, W. (2017). The Phoenix galaxy as seen by NuSTAR. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 597, Article A100. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201629444

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Sep 1, 2016
Online Publication Date	Jan 11, 2017
Publication Date	Jan 11, 2017
Deposit Date	Jul 11, 2017
Publicly Available Date	Jul 11, 2017
Journal	Astronomy and astrophysics.
Print ISSN	0004-6361
Electronic ISSN	1432-0746
Publisher	EDP Sciences
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	597
Article Number	A100
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201629444
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1355412