Rms variability properties of the iron K alpha line in Seyfert galaxies

Abstract

We present an analysis of the rms variability spectra of a sample of 18 observations of 14 Seyfert galaxies observed by XMM-Newton, which exhibit sufficient variability and signal-to-noise ratio to examine the variations in the iron K-band. The narrow core of the K alpha line at 6.4 keV, seen universally in Seyferts, shows minimal evidence for variability and is always less variable than the continuum, supporting an origin in distant material such as the torus. At least half the observations do show evidence for variations in the wider iron K-band, however, and in at least 5 cases the excess line variations appear to be broad. The simplest prediction -- that the broad emission line is as variable as the continuum -- is generally not confirmed as only two observations show this type of behaviour. In four cases, the red wing of the line is more variable than the power-law continuum and extends down to energies of ~ 5 keV. Three observations show strong variability blueward of the line core that could also be from the disk, but alternatively might be due to emission or absorption by other hot or photoionised gas close to the nucleus. In cases where this excess blue variability is present, it is not always seen in the time-averaged spectrum. Six observations possess a broad iron line in the time-averaged spectra but with an invariant red wing, and three of these six show no variability across the entire iron line region. This suggests a decoupling of the continuum and reflection component, perhaps due to light bending or other anisotropic effects as has been suggested for MCG-6-30-15 and other narrow-line Seyfert 1s. A key result is that the rms spectra of objects such as NGC 3516 do not agree with complex absorption effects mimicking the broad red wing.