Detailed Record



AGN STORM 2. IX. Studying the Dynamics of the Ionized Obscurer in Mrk 817 with High-resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy


Abstract We present the results of the XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations taken as part of the ongoing, intensive multiwavelength monitoring program of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 817 by the AGN Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping 2 (AGN STORM 2) Project. The campaign revealed an unexpected and transient obscuring outflow, never before seen in this source. Of our four XMM-Newton/NuSTAR epochs, one fortuitously taken during a bright X-ray state has strong narrow absorption lines in the high-resolution grating spectra. From these absorption features, we determine that the obscurer is in fact a multiphase ionized wind with an outflow velocity of ∼5200 km s −1 , and for the first time find evidence for a lower ionization component with the same velocity observed in absorption features in the contemporaneous Hubble Space Telescope spectra. This indicates that the UV absorption troughs may be due to dense clumps embedded in diffuse, higher ionization gas responsible for the X-ray absorption lines of the same velocity. We observe variability in the shape of the absorption lines on timescales of hours, placing the variable component at roughly 1000 R g if attributed to transverse motion along the line of sight. This estimate aligns with independent UV measurements of the distance to the obscurer suggesting an accretion disk wind at the inner broad line region. We estimate that it takes roughly 200 days for the outflow to travel from the disk to our line of sight, consistent with the timescale of the outflow's column density variations throughout the campaign.
Authors Fatima Zaidouni ORCID , Erin Kara ORCID , P. Kosec ORCID , M. Mehdipour ORCID , Daniele Rogantini ORCID , G. A. Kriss ORCID , E. Behar ORCID , J. S. Kaastra ORCID , Aaron J. Barth ORCID , Edward M. Cackett ORCID , Gisella De Rosa ORCID , Y. Homayouni ORCID , K. Horne ORCID , Hermine Landt ORCID , Nahum Arav ORCID , Misty C. Bentz ORCID , M. S. Brotherton University of WyomingORCID , E. Dalla Bontà ORCID , Maryam Dehghanian ORCID , G. J. Ferland ORCID , C. Fian ORCID , J. M. Gelbord ORCID , M. R. Goad ORCID , D. González–Buitrago ORCID , C. J. Grier ORCID , Patrick B. Hall ORCID , Chen Hu ORCID , D. Ilić ORCID , S. Kaspi ORCID , C. S. Kochanek ORCID , Andjelka B. Kovačević ORCID , Daniel Kynoch ORCID , Collin Lewin ORCID , John Montano ORCID , H. Netzer ORCID , Jack M. M. Neustadt ORCID , Christos Panagiotou , Ethan R. Partington ORCID , Rachel Plesha ORCID , Luka Č. Popović ORCID , Daniel Proga ORCID , Thaísa Storchi-Bergmann ORCID , David Sanmartim ORCID , M. R. Siebert ORCID , Matilde Signorini ORCID , M. Vestergaard ORCID , T.P. Waters ORCID , Ying Zu ORCID
Journal Info IOP Publishing | The Astrophysical Journal , vol: 974 , iss: 1 , pages: 91 - 91
Publication Date 10/7/2024
ISSN 0004-637X
TypeKeyword Image article
Open Access gold Gold Access
DOI https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad6771
KeywordsKeyword Image X-Ray Spectroscopy (Score: 0.46501285)