An obscuring wind featuring heavy absorption of the soft X-ray continuumassociated with blue-shifted UV broad absorption lines was previously discoveredin NGC 5548. The obscurer has been present in our line-of-sight (LOS) since atleast 2011. Outside our LOS, if photons from the central engine to thenarrow-line region are also screened, X-ray narrow emission lines would bediminished, given adequate delay time. We propose to observe NGC 5548 with XMM-Newton for 70 ks, we can verify whether the narrow emission lines in the softX-ray band are diminished. This helps us to better understand the geometry ofthe obscurer. With coordinated HST/COS, we can study the FUV and NUV absorptionlines associated with the obscurer along the LOS.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2021-01-27T04:33:50Z/2021-01-28T01:40:30Z
Version
18.02_20200221_1200
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 Junjie Mao, 2022, 'Revisiting the obscuring wind of NGC 5548', 18.02_20200221_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.57780/esa-j2y69g1
