The Origin of the Dramatic Flux and Spectral Variability in the Circinus Galaxy

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Chandra Proposal Id #02708043

Scientific paper

The Circinus Galaxy is one of the nearest AGN and the brightest Compton-thick Seyfert 2. Due to heavy obscuration, below 10 keV the spectrum is dominated by a reflection component, the nucleus starting to be observable above 20 keV. No evidence for variability was present before we observed the Circinus Galaxy with BeppoSAX on 2001 January 7. The source has dramatically changed with since June 2000 both in flux and spectral shape. Below 10 keV, the flux increases by almost 50%,the spectrum becoming steeper. Above that energy, the change was much smaller, if any. There are two explanations: a) A past variation of the nuclear emission echoed by the reflection component. b) A burst from a off-center source reaching the luminosity of 10**40 erg/s, as that observed in M82 and attributed to accretion onto a black hole with a few hundred times the solar mass BeppoSAX cannot solve this ambiguity. Only a high angular resolution observation with Chandra can do it.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

The Origin of the Dramatic Flux and Spectral Variability in the Circinus Galaxy does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The Origin of the Dramatic Flux and Spectral Variability in the Circinus Galaxy, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Origin of the Dramatic Flux and Spectral Variability in the Circinus Galaxy will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1383717

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.