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Published October 2017 | Submitted + Published
Journal Article Open

The active nucleus of the ULIRG IRAS F00183-7111 viewed by NuSTAR

Abstract

We present an X-ray study of the ultra-luminous infrared galaxy IRAS F00183–7111 (z = 0.327), using data obtained from NuSTAR, Chandra X-ray Observatory, Suzaku and XMM-Newton. The Chandra imaging shows that a point-like X-ray source is located at the nucleus of the galaxy at energies above 2 keV. However, the point source resolves into diffuse emission at lower energies, extending to the east, where the extranuclear [OIII]λ5007 emission, presumably induced by a galactic-scale outflow, is present. The nuclear source is detected by NuSTAR up to the rest-frame 30 keV. The strong, high-ionization Fe K line, first seen by XMM-Newton, and subsequently by Suzaku and Chandra, is not detected in the NuSTAR data. The line flux appears to have been declining continuously between 2003 and 2016, while the continuum emission remained stable to within 30%. Further observations are needed to confirm this. The X-ray continuum below 10 keV is characterised by a hard spectrum caused by cold absorption of N_H ~ 1 × 10^(23) cm^(-2), compatible to that of the silicate absorption at 9.7 μm, and a broad absorption feature around 8 keV which we attribute to a high-ionization Fe K absorption edge. The latter is best described by a blueshifted, high-ionization (log ξ ~ 3) absorber with a column density of N_H ~ 1 × 10^(24) cm^(-2), similar to the X-ray high-velocity outflows observed in a number of active nuclei. No extra hard component, which would arise from a strongly absorbed (i.e. Compton-thick) source, is seen in the NuSTAR data. While a pure reflection scenario (with a totally hidden central source) is viable, direct emission from the central source of L_(2−10 keV) ≃ 2 × 10^(44) erg s^(-1), behind layers of cold and hot absorbing gas may be an alternative explanation. In this case, the relative X-ray quietness (L_x/L_(bol,AGN) ≤ 6 × 10^(-3)), the high-ionization Fe line, strong outflows inferred from various observations, and other similarities to the well-studied ULIRG/QSO Mrk 231 point that the central source in this ULIRG might be accreting close to the Eddington limit.

Additional Information

© 2017 ESO. Article published by EDP Sciences. Received 6 April 2017; Accepted 8 August; Published online 23 October 2017. This research has also made use of data obtained from ESO telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory. The ESO VLT data are under programme IDs 386.B-0346, 088.B-0405, and 090.B-0098. The scientific results reported in this article are based on observations made by Chandra X-ray Observatory, Suzaku, NuSTAR and XMM-Newton, and has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under contract with NASA. Support for this work was partially provided by NASA through Chandra Award Number GO2-13122X issued by the Chandra X-ray Observatory Center, which is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for and on behalf of the NASA under contract NAS8-03060. K.I. acknowledges support by the Spanish MINECO under grant AYA2016-76012-C3-1-P and MDM-2014-0369 of ICCUB (Unidad de Excelencia "María de Maeztu"). Support from the ASI/INAF grant I/037/12/0 – 011/13 is acknowledged (A.C., M.B., E.P., G.L., R.G. and C.V.).

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Submitted - 1709.01708.pdf

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Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 17, 2023