MNRAS-2014-Starling-3929-38.pdf (923.5 kB)
The story of Seyfert galaxy RE J2248−511: from intriguingly ultrasoft to unremarkably average
journal contribution
posted on 2015-05-07, 13:58 authored by R. L. C. Starling, C. Done, C. Jin, E. Romero-Colmenero, S. B. Potter, K. Wiersema, K. L. Page, M. J. Page, A. A. Breeveld, A. P. LobbanRE J2248−511 is one of only 14 non-blazar active galactic nuclei (AGN) detected in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) by the ROSAT Wide Field Camera implying a large ultrasoft X-ray flux. This soft X-ray excess is strongly variable on year time-scales, a common property of narrow-line Seyfert 1s, yet its optical line widths classify this source as a broad-lined Seyfert 1 (BLS1). We use four nearly simultaneous optical–X-ray spectral energy distributions (SEDs) spanning 7 yr to study the spectral shape and long-term variability of RE J2248−511. Here we show that the continuum SED for the brightest epoch data set is consistent with the mean SED of a standard quasar, and matches well to that from an XMM–Sloan Digital Sky Survey sample of AGN with 〈M/M⊙〉 ∼ 108 and 〈L/LEdd〉 ∼ 0.2. All the correlated optical and soft X-ray variability can be due entirely to a major absorption event. The only remarkable aspect of this AGN is that there is no measurable intrinsic X-ray absorption column in the brightest epoch data set. The observed FUV flux is determined by the combination of this and the fact that the source lies within a local absorption ‘hole’. RE J2248−511, whose variable, ultrasoft X-ray flux once challenged its BLS1 classification, demonstrates that characterization of such objects requires multi-epoch, multiwavelength campaigns.
Funding
RLCS acknowledges financial support from a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship. KW acknowledges support from STFC. KLP acknowledges support from UKSA. This work is based on observations obtained with XMM–Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and the USA (NASA). This work made use of data supplied by the UK Swift Science Data Centre at the University of Leicester, and data provided by the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), which is a service of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA/GSFC and the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. This paper uses observations made at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). We acknowledge use of the AAVSO Photometric All-Sky Survey (APASS), funded by the Robert Martin Ayers Sciences Fund. Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which are operated by AURA, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation
History
Citation
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (February 01, 2014) 437 (4): 3929-3938.Author affiliation
/Organisation/COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING/Department of Physics and AstronomyVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)