X-ray Outflows in the Swift Burst Alert Detected Seyfert 1s

TL;DR

This study investigates X-ray outflows in a representative sample of local Seyfert 1 galaxies, revealing that ionized absorbers are common and their properties depend on luminosity, with implications for understanding AGN outflows.

Contribution

It provides the first unbiased analysis of warm absorption features in Seyfert 1s selected in very hard X-rays, highlighting the prevalence and luminosity dependence of ionized outflows.

Findings

O VII and O VIII edges detected in 41% of sources

Outflow detection rate varies with luminosity (60% in low, 30% in high)

Most high-luminosity sources have ionized absorbers with different ionization states

Abstract

Previous surveys of outflows in low-redshift active galactic nuclei (AGN) have relied on the analysis of sources selected primarily for their optical/X-ray brightness, and are therefore biased. Towards determining the outflow properties of local AGN, we detect warm absorption signatures of O VII and O VIII absorption edges in the available Suzaku/XMM-Newton CCD spectra of an unbiased sample of 44 Seyfert 1-1.5 sources selected in the very hard X-rays (14-195 keV) with the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. From our analysis, we find that O VII and O VIII absorption edges are present in 41% of the sample. This fraction is dependent on luminosity, with outflow detections in 60% of low luminosity and 30% of high luminosity sources. However, grating spectroscopy of the highest luminosity sources reveals that ~ 80% of these sources have ionized absorbers, but that the ionization states are higher/lower than produces the O VII and O VIII edges. This suggests that ionized absorption may be present in all local Seyfert 1s.