The Seyfert galaxies in the local Universe: from BeppoSAX to Simbol-X

TL;DR

This study simulates how the Simbol-X mission can effectively observe and analyze the high-energy spectra of nearby Seyfert galaxies, enabling tests of AGN models and cosmic X-ray background contributions.

Contribution

It demonstrates that Simbol-X will significantly improve the characterization of Seyfert galaxies and AGN models compared to previous observations with BeppoSAX.

Findings

Simbol-X will fully characterize high-energy spectra of nearby Seyferts.

It will measure inclination angles of accretion disks for about 15 objects.

Time-dependent reflected components can be studied in at least 25 objects.

Abstract

The operational conditions found by $BeppoSAX$ in observing nearby (z$\leq$0.1) Seyferts were reproduced for $Simbol$-$X$ in order to simulate a realistic final database of the mission. The results indicate that, even in the worst conditions, the $Simbol$-$X$ archive of pointings will allow to fully characterize the high-energy spectrum of nearby Seyferts and, most importantly, to obtain solid results on R and Ec (fundamental to model the cosmic X-Ray background, CXB). The measurement of the inclination angle of the accretion disk will be possible for $\sim$15 objects allowing to directly test the unified models for AGN. Finally, the time-dependent characteristics of the reflected component will be studied in at least $\sim$25 objects.