AGN can be obscured by gas streams close to the black hole that shield remoteregions from ionising radiation. We witnessed such an event in NGC 5548 and NGC3783 where 90% of the soft X-rays are blocked by a dense gas stream close to theBLR. Our joint observations with XMM-Newton, NuSTAR and HST/COS showed UV broadabsorption lines associated with the X-ray absorption and allowed us tocharacterise this unique obscuration event completely. We propose to investigatea similar event in another Seyfert 1 using the same instruments. Swiftmonitoring (98 ks) will be used to find the event, which will be characterisedby joint ToO observations with XMM-Newton (150 ks), HST/COS (4 orbits) andNuSTAR (50 ks).
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2019-11-15T08:03:30Z/2019-12-06T12:37:09Z
Version
18.00_20191217_1110
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, Prof Jelle Kaastra, 2020, 'Shining light on obscuring outflows in AGN', 18.00_20191217_1110, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.57780/esa-jad4zk1
