The Complex X-ray Obscuration Environment in the Radio Loud Type 2 Quasar 3C 223
| dc.contributor.author | LaMassa, Stephanie M. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Yaqoob, Tahir | |
| dc.contributor.author | Tzanavaris, Panayiotis | |
| dc.contributor.author | Gandhi, Poshak | |
| dc.contributor.author | Heckman, Timothy | |
| dc.contributor.author | Lansbury, George | |
| dc.contributor.author | Siemiginowska, Aneta | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-02-28T18:48:38Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-02-28T18:48:38Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023-01-17 | |
| dc.description.abstract | 3C 223 is a radio loud, Type 2 quasar at z=0.1365 with an intriguing XMM-Newton spectrum that implicated it as a rare, Compton-thick (Nₕ≳1.25×10²⁴ cm⁻²) active galactic nucleus (AGN). We obtained contemporaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR spectra to fit the broad-band X-ray spectrum with the physically-motivated MYTorus and borus02 models. We confirm earlier results that the obscuring gas is patchy with both high (though not Compton-thick) levels of obscuration (Nₕ>10²³ cm⁻²) and gas clouds with column densities up to an order of magnitude lower. The spectral fitting results indicate additional physical processes beyond those modeled in the spectral grids of MYTorus and borus02 impact the emergent spectrum: the Compton-scattering region may be extended beyond the putative torus; a ring of heavy Compton-thick material blocks most X-ray emission along the line of sight; or the radio jet is beamed, boosting the production of Fe Kα line photons in the global medium compared with what is observed along the line of sight. We revisit a recent claim that no radio loud Compton-thick AGN have yet been conclusively shown to exist, finding three reported cases of radio loud AGN with global average (but not line-of-sight) column densities that are Compton-thick. Now that it is possible to separately determine line-of-sight and global column densities, inhomogeneity in the obscuring medium has consequences for how we interpet the spectrum and classify an AGN as "Compton-thick." | en |
| dc.description.sponsorship | We thank the anonymous referee for a careful reading of this manuscript and thoughtful comments which improved the quality of the paper. S.M.L acknowledges support from NASA grants 80NSSC20K0261 and 80NSSC20K0837. S.M.L is thankful for the efforts of STScI IT, facilities, and administrative staff that allowed continual operations at STScI, even during difficult conditions in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper would not be possible without their support. A.S. was supported by NASA contract NAS8-03060 (Chandra X-ray Center). Based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA. This research has made use of the NuSTAR Data Analysis Software (NuSTARDAS) jointly developed by the ASI Space Science Data Center (SSDC, Italy) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech, USA). This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), which is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and operated by the California Institute of Technology. The scientific results reported in this article are based in part on data obtaianed from the Chandra Data Archive. This research has made use of software provided by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) in the application package CIAO. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), which is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and operated by the California Institute of Technology. | en |
| dc.description.uri | https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.07193 | en |
| dc.format.extent | 30 pages | en |
| dc.genre | journal articles | en |
| dc.genre | preprints | en |
| dc.identifier | doi:10.13016/m2oyex-mav5 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2301.07193 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11603/26904 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.relation.isAvailableAt | The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | UMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | UMBC Faculty Collection | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | UMBC Physics Department | |
| dc.rights | This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author. | en |
| dc.title | The Complex X-ray Obscuration Environment in the Radio Loud Type 2 Quasar 3C 223 | en |
| dc.type | Text | en |