1999ApJ...520..130W -
Astrophys. J., 520, 130-136 (1999/July-3)
X-ray emission from the prototypical LINER galaxy NGC 1052.
WEAVER K.A., WILSON A.S., HENKEL C. and BRAATZ J.A.
Abstract (from CDS):
We examine the 0.1-10.0 keV X-ray spectrum of the bright nuclear LINER galaxy NGC 1052, one of two elliptical galaxies known to contain a luminous H2O maser. The observed 2.0-10.0 keV spectrum is unusually flat (photon index Γ∼0.2) and is best described as intrinsically power-law shaped nuclear flux that is either (1) attenuated by a complex absorber with ∼70% of the nuclear flux absorbed by a column density of NH∼3x1023 cm–2 and ∼30% absorbed by a column density of NH∼3-5x1022 cm–2 or (2) reprocessed, with the nuclear source blocked and the X-rays Compton reflected in our direction by high column density (≥1024 cm–2) gas. The moderate equivalent width of the Fe Kα line favors the dual absorption model as the most likely scenario. The 0.1-2.0 keV spectrum does not resemble the few times 106-107 K thermal emission typically found in other elliptical galaxies, but instead is best described as nuclear X-rays leaking through a patchy absorber or scattered in our direction by low-density, ionized gas plus a 15%-20% contribution from a thermal component, which is most likely due to the galaxy. The absorption-corrected 2-10 keV luminosity of the nuclear source is LX∼8x1041 ergs.s–1 or LX∼2x1043 ergs.s–1 for the dual-absorption and Compton-reflection models, respectively. The absorbing and H2O masing gases appear to be spatially separate in this galaxy.
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Journal keyword(s):
Galaxies: Individual: NGC Number: NGC 1052 - Galaxies: Nuclei - Galaxies: Seyfert - Masers - X-Rays: Galaxies
Simbad objects:
8
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