A Deep X-Ray View of the Bare AGN Ark 120. I. Revealing the Soft X-Ray Line Emission
Journal
Date Issued
2016
Author(s)
Abstract
The Seyfert 1 galaxy Ark 120 is a prototype example of the so-called class of bare nucleus active galactic nuclei (AGNs), whereby there is no known evidence for the presence of ionized gas along the direct line of sight. Here deep (>400 ks exposure), high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of Ark 120 is presented from XMM-Newton observations that were carried out in 2014 March, together with simultaneous Chandra/High Energy Transmission Grating exposures. The high-resolution spectra confirmed the lack of intrinsic absorbing gas associated with Ark 120, with the only X-ray absorption present originating from the interstellar medium (ISM) of our own Galaxy, with a possible slight enhancement of the oxygen abundance required with respect to the expected ISM values in the solar neighborhood. However, the presence of several soft X-ray emission lines are revealed for the first time in the XMM-Newton RGS spectrum, associated with the AGN and arising from the He- and H-like ions of N, O, Ne, and Mg. The He-like line profiles of N, O, and Ne appear velocity broadened, with typical FWHMs of ∼5000 km s-1, whereas the H-like profiles are unresolved. From the clean measurement of the He-like triplets, we deduce that the broad lines arise from a gas of density n e ∼ 1011 cm-3, while the photoionization calculations infer that the emitting gas covers at least 10% of 4π steradian. Thus the broad soft X-ray profiles appear coincident with an X-ray component of the optical-UV broad-line region on sub-parsec scales, whereas the narrow profiles originate on larger parsec scales, perhaps coincident with the AGN narrow-line region. The observations show that Ark 120 is not intrinsically bare and substantial X-ray-emitting gas exists out of our direct line of sight toward this AGN.
Volume
828
Issue
2
Start page
98
Issn Identifier
0004-637X
Ads BibCode
2016ApJ...828...98R
Rights
open.access
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