A broad-band X-ray spectral study of the Seyfert 1 galaxy ESO 141–G055 with XMM–Newton and NuSTAR

Abstract

We have extensively studied the broad--band X-ray spectra of the source ESO 141–G055 using all available XMM–Newton and NuSTAR observations. We detect a prominent soft excess below 2keV⁠, a narrow Fe line, and a Compton hump (⁠>10keV⁠). The origin of the soft excess is still debated. We used two models to describe the soft excess: the blurred reflection from the ionized accretion disc and the intrinsic thermal Comptonization model. We find that both of these models explain the soft excess equally well. We confirm that we do not detect any broad Fe line in the X-ray spectra of this source, although both the physical models prefer a maximally spinning black hole scenario (a > 0.96). This may mean that either the broad Fe line is absent or blurred beyond detection. The Eddington rate of the source is estimated to be λEdd∼0.31⁠. In the reflection model, the Compton hump has a contribution from both ionized and neutral reflection components. The neutral reflector which simultaneously describes the narrow Fe K α and the Compton hump has a column density of NH≥7×10²⁴cm⁻²⁠. In addition, we detect a partially covering ionized absorption with ionization parameter logξ/ergcms⁻¹ = 0.1⁺⁰·¹₋₀.₁ and column density NH=20.6⁺¹·⁰₋₁.₀×10²²cm⁻² with a covering factor of 0.21⁺⁰·⁰¹₋₀.₀₁.