Guainazzi et al. (1999, in preparation) recently discovered that the nuclear dust content and the optical reddening appear to be anticorrelated with theamount of X-ray absorption, leading to the suggestion that the absorbing matter in Compton-thin and -thick Seyfert 2 galaxies is qualitatively different. One ofthe most crucial correlation, nuclear dust versus Compton-thickness, issignificant only at 1 sigma confidence level. We propose to enlarge the sampleof objects for which high-resolution images of the nuclear region and X-raymeasurements of the absorbing column exist, by observing further 24 objectswith XMM. This will permit to establish this correlation, if true, at aconfidence level >98. Total 205 ks of exposure time are requested.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2001-01-05T05:57:30Z/2002-01-28T22:38:10Z
Version
PPS_NOT_AVAILABLE
Mission Description
The European Space Agencys (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESAs second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It carries 3 high throughput X-ray telescopes with an unprecedented effective area, and an optical monitor, the first flown on a X-ray observatory. The large collecting area and ability to make long uninterrupted exposures provide highly sensitive observations. Since Earths atmosphere blocks out all X-rays, only a telescope in space can detect and study celestial X-ray sources. The XMM-Newton mission is helping scientists to solve a number of cosmic mysteries, ranging from the enigmatic black holes to the origins of the Universe itself. Observing time on XMM-Newton is being made available to the scientific community, applying for observational periods on a competitive basis.
European Space Agency, Dr Matteo Guainazzi, 2010, 'XMM study of a sample of nuclear dust morphology selected Seyfert 2 galaxies', PPS_NOT_AVAILABLE, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-vwuwekp
