We report on a dramatic transition between a Compton-thick, reflection-dominated state and a Compton-thin state in the Seyfert 2 galaxy UGC 4203, discovered by comparing a recent (May 2001) XMM-Newton observation with ASCA observations performed about six years earlier. This transition can be explained either as a change in the column density of the absorber, maybe due to moving clouds in a clumpy torus, or as the revival of a transient active nucleus, which was in a phase of very low activity when observed by ASCA. If the latter explanation is correct, spectral transitions of this kind provide observational support to the idea that Compton-thick and Compton-thin regions coexist in the same source, the former likely to be identified with the "torus", the latter with dust lanes on much larger scales.
Guainazzi, M., Matt, G., Fiore, F., Perola, G.c. (2002). The Phoenix galaxy: UGC 4203 re-birth from its ashes?. ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 388(3), 787-792 [10.1051/0004-6361:20020471].
The Phoenix galaxy: UGC 4203 re-birth from its ashes?
MATT, Giorgio;
2002-01-01
Abstract
We report on a dramatic transition between a Compton-thick, reflection-dominated state and a Compton-thin state in the Seyfert 2 galaxy UGC 4203, discovered by comparing a recent (May 2001) XMM-Newton observation with ASCA observations performed about six years earlier. This transition can be explained either as a change in the column density of the absorber, maybe due to moving clouds in a clumpy torus, or as the revival of a transient active nucleus, which was in a phase of very low activity when observed by ASCA. If the latter explanation is correct, spectral transitions of this kind provide observational support to the idea that Compton-thick and Compton-thin regions coexist in the same source, the former likely to be identified with the "torus", the latter with dust lanes on much larger scales.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
