The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)
AGN STORM 2. IX. Studying the Dynamics of the Ionized Obscurer in Mrk 817 with High-resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy
- Fatima Zaidouni,
- Erin Kara,
- Peter Kosec,
- Missagh Mehdipour,
- Daniele Rogantini,
- Gerard A. Kriss,
- Ehud Behar,
- Jelle Kaastra,
- Aaron J. Barth,
- Edward M. Cackett,
- Gisella De Rosa,
- Yasaman Homayouni,
- Keith Horne,
- Hermine Landt,
- Nahum Arav,
- Misty C. Bentz,
- Michael S. Brotherton,
- Elena Dalla Bontà,
- Maryam Dehghanian,
- Gary J. Ferland,
- Carina Fian,
- Jonathan Gelbord,
- Michael R. Goad,
- Diego H. González Buitrago,
- Catherine J. Grier,
- Patrick B. Hall,
- Chen Hu,
- Dragana Ilić,
- Shai Kaspi,
- Christopher S. Kochanek,
- Andjelka B. Kovačević,
- Daniel Kynoch,
- Collin Lewin,
- John Montano,
- Hagai Netzer,
- Jack M. M. Neustadt,
- Christos Panagiotou,
- Ethan R. Partington,
- Rachel Plesha,
- Luka Č. Popović,
- Daniel Proga,
- Thaisa Storchi-Bergmann,
- David Sanmartim,
- Matthew R. Siebert,
- Matilde Signorini,
- Marianne Vestergaard,
- Tim Waters,
- Ying Zu
Affiliations
- Fatima Zaidouni
- ORCiD
- MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Erin Kara
- ORCiD
- MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Peter Kosec
- ORCiD
- MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Missagh Mehdipour
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Daniele Rogantini
- MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Gerard A. Kriss
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Ehud Behar
- ORCiD
- MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Physics, Technion , Haifa 32000, Israel
- Jelle Kaastra
- ORCiD
- SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research , Niels Bohrweg 4, 2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands; Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
- Aaron J. Barth
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, University of California , Irvine, CA, 92697-4575, USA
- Edward M. Cackett
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wayne State University , 666 W. Hancock Street, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
- Gisella De Rosa
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Yasaman Homayouni
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA
- Keith Horne
- ORCiD
- SUPA School of Physics and Astronomy , North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9SS, Scotland, UK
- Hermine Landt
- Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
- Nahum Arav
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
- Misty C. Bentz
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University , 25 Park Place, Suite 605, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
- Michael S. Brotherton
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming , Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- Elena Dalla Bontà
- ORCiD
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “G. Galilei,” Università di Padova , Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 3, I-35122 Padova, Italy; INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova , Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5 I-35122, Padova, Italy
- Maryam Dehghanian
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
- Gary J. Ferland
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Kentucky , Lexington, KY 40506, USA
- Carina Fian
- ORCiD
- Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Universidad de Valencia , E-46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain; Observatorio Astronómico, Universidad de Valencia , E-46980 Paterna, Valencia, Spain
- Jonathan Gelbord
- ORCiD
- Spectral Sciences Inc. , 4 Fourth Avenue, Burlington, MA 01803, USA
- Michael R. Goad
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester , University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- Diego H. González Buitrago
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Km 103 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, 22860 Ensenada B.C., Mexico
- Catherine J. Grier
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Patrick B. Hall
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University , Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
- Chen Hu
- Key Laboratory for Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 19B Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
- Dragana Ilić
- ORCiD
- University of Belgrade —Faculty of Mathematics, Department of Astronomy, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; Humboldt Research Fellow, Hamburger Sternwarte, Universität Hamburg , Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg, Germany
- Shai Kaspi
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy and Wise Observatory, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Christopher S. Kochanek
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 140 W. 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, The Ohio State University , 191 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Andjelka B. Kovačević
- ORCiD
- University of Belgrade —Faculty of Mathematics, Department of Astronomy, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
- Daniel Kynoch
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton , Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK; Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences , Boční II 1401/1a, CZ-14100 Prague, Czechia
- Collin Lewin
- ORCiD
- MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- John Montano
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, University of California , Irvine, CA, 92697-4575, USA
- Hagai Netzer
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy and Wise Observatory, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Jack M. M. Neustadt
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 140 W. 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Christos Panagiotou
- MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Ethan R. Partington
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wayne State University , 666 W. Hancock Street, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
- Rachel Plesha
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Luka Č. Popović
- ORCiD
- University of Belgrade —Faculty of Mathematics, Department of Astronomy, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; Astronomical Observatory , Volgina 7, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia
- Daniel Proga
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Nevada , Las Vegas 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4002, USA
- Thaisa Storchi-Bergmann
- ORCiD
- Departamento de Astronomia—IF, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul , CP 150501, 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
- David Sanmartim
- ORCiD
- Rubin Observatory Project Office , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Matthew R. Siebert
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 92064, USA
- Matilde Signorini
- ORCiD
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Firenze, via G. Sansone 1 , 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy; INAF—Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri , Largo Enrico Fermi 5, I-50125 Firenze, Italy; University of California-Los Angeles , Department of Physics and Astronomy, PAB, 430 Portola Plaza, Box 951547, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547, USA
- Marianne Vestergaard
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; DARK, The Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 155, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Tim Waters
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Nevada , Las Vegas 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4002, USA
- Ying Zu
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad6771
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 974,
no. 1
p. 91
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.
Keywords
- X-ray active galactic nuclei
- Astrophysical black holes
- X-ray astronomy
- High resolution spectroscopy
- Reverberation mapping
- Seyfert galaxies
