arXiv subjects

X. W. Shu

Publications and source records attributed to X. W. Shu.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

The Cores of the Fe K$α$ Lines in Active Galactic Nuclei: an Extended Chandra High Energy Grating Sample

We extend the study of the core of the Fe K$α$ emission line at \sim 6.4 keV in Seyfert galaxies reported in Yaqoob & Padmanabhan (2004) using a larger sample observed by the Chandra High Energy Grating (HEG). Whilst heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are excluded from the sample, these data offer some of the highest precision measurements of the peak energy of the Fe K$α$ line, and the highest spectral resolution measurements of the width of the core of the line in unobscured and moderately obscured ($N_{H}<10^{23} \ \rm cm^{-2}$) Seyfert galaxies to date. The Fe K$α$ line is detected in 33 sources, and its centroid energy is constrained in 32 sources. In 27 sources the statistical quality of the data is good enough to yield measurements of the FWHM. We find that the distribution in the line centroid energy is strongly peaked around the value for neutral Fe, with over 80% of the observations giving values in the range 6.38--6.43 keV. Including statistical errors, 30 out of 32 sources ($\sim 94%$) have a line centroid energy in the range 6.35--6.47 keV. The mean equivalent width, amongst the observations in which a non-zero lower limit could be measured, was $53 \pm 3eV. The mean FWHM from the subsample of 27 sources was $2060 \pm 230 \ \rm km \ s^{-1}$. The mean EW and FWHM are somewhat higher when multiple observations for a given source are averaged. From a comparison with the H$β$ optical emission-line widths (or, for one source, Br$α$), we find that there is no universal location of the Fe K$α$ line-emitting region relative to the optical BLR. We confirm the presence of the X-ray Baldwin effect, an anti-correlation between the Fe K$α$ line EW and X-ray continuum luminosity. The HEG data have enabled isolation of this effect to the narrow core of the Fe K$α$ line.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2009

Bright Strongly Lensed Galaxies at Redshift z~ 6-7 behind the Clusters Abell 1703 and CL0024+161

We report on the discovery of three bright, strongly-lensed objects behind Abell 1703 and CL0024+16 from a dropout search over 25 square arcminutes of deep NICMOS data, with deep ACS optical coverage. They are undetected in the deep ACS images below 8500 A and have clear detections in the J and H bands. Fits to the ACS, NICMOS and IRAC data yield robust photometric redshifts in the range z~6-7 and largely rule out the possibility that they are low-redshift interlopers. All three objects are extended, and resolved into a pair of bright knots. The bright i-band dropout in Abell 1703 has an H-band AB magnitude of 23.9, which makes it one of the brightest known galaxy candidates at z>5.5. Our model fits suggest a young, massive galaxy only ~ 60 million years old with a mass of ~ 1E10 solar mass. The dropout galaxy candidates behind CL0024+16 are separated by 2.5" (~ 2 kpc in the source plane), and have H-band AB magnitudes of 25.0 and 25.6. Lensing models of CL0024+16 suggest that the objects have comparable intrinsic magnitudes of AB ~ 27.3, approximately one magnitude fainter than L* at z~6.5. Their similar redshifts, spectral energy distribution, and luminosities, coupled with their very close proximity on the sky, suggest that they are spatially associated, and plausibly are physically bound. Combining this sample with two previously reported, similarly magnified galaxy candidates at z~6-8, we find that complex systems with dual nuclei may be a common feature of high-redshift galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2007

Are Seyfert 2 Galaxies without Polarized Broad Emission Lines More Obscured?

The new $XMM-Newton$ data of seven Seyfert 2 galaxies with optical spectropolarimetric observations are presented. The analysis of 0.5 -- 10 keV spectra shows that all four Seyfert 2 galaxies with polarized broad lines (PBLs) are absorbed with $N_{\rm H}<10^{24}$ cm$^{-2}$, while two of three Seyfert 2 galaxies without PBLs have evidence suggesting Compton-thick obscuration, supporting the conclusion that Seyfert 2 galaxies without PBLs are more obscured than those with PBLs. Adding the measured obscuration indicators ($N_{\rm H}$, $T$ ratio, and Fe K$α$ line EW) of six luminous AGNs to our previous sample improves the significance level of the difference in absorption from 92.3% to 96.3% for $N_{\rm H}$, 99.1% to 99.4% for $T$ ratio, and 95.3% to 97.4% for Fe K$α$ line EW. The present results support and enhance the suggestions that the absence of PBLs in Seyfert 2 galaxies can be explained by larger viewing angle of line of sight to the putative dusty torus, which lead to the obscuration of broad-line scattering screen, as expected by the unification model.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Investigating on the nuclear obscuration in two types of Seyfert 2 galaxies

We build a large sample of Seyfert 2 galaxies (Sy2s) with both optical spectropolarimetric and X-ray data available, in which 29 Sy2s with the detection of polarized broad emission line (PBL) and 25 without. We find that for luminous Sy2s with L_[OIII] > 10^41 erg/s, sources with PBL have smaller X-ray absorption column density comparing with those without PBL (at 92.3% confidence level): most of the Sy2s with N_H<10^23.8 cm^-2 show PBL (86%, 12 out 14), while the fraction is much smaller for sources with heavier obscuration (54%, 15 out 28). The confidence level of the difference in absorption bounces up to 99.1% while using the "T" ratio (F_2-10keV/F_[O III]) as an indicator. We rule out observation or selection bias as the origin for the difference. Our results, for the first time with high statistical confidence, show that, in additional to the nuclei activity, the nuclear obscuration also plays an important role in the visibility of PBL in Sy2s. These results can be interpreted in the framework of the unified model. We can reach these results in the unified model if: a) the absorption column density is higher at large inclinations and b) the scattering region is obscured at large inclinations.

astro-ph↗