Suzaku Studies of the Central Engine in the Typical Type I Seyfert NGC 3227: Detection of Multiple Primary X-ray Continua with Distinct Properties

TL;DR

This study used Suzaku observations to identify multiple primary X-ray emission components in NGC 3227, revealing complex variability and distinct spectral properties in a typical Seyfert galaxy.

Contribution

It is the first to decompose the X-ray spectrum of NGC 3227 into three distinct primary components using variability-assisted spectroscopy.

Findings

Detection of a soft, highly variable power-law component above a luminosity threshold.

Identification of a persistent, harder, and more absorbed continuum component.

Observation of a constant narrow Fe-Kα emission line across all states.

Abstract

The type I Seyfert galaxy NGC 3227 was observed by Suzaku six times in 2008, with intervals of $\sim1$ week and net exposures of $\sim50$ ksec each. Among the six observations, the source varied by nearly an order of magnitude, being brightest in the 1st observation with a 2-10 keV luminosity of $1.2\times10^{42}$~erg~s$^{-1}$, while faintest in the 4th with $2.9\times10^{41}$~erg~s$^{-1}$. As it became fainter, the continuum in a 2-45 keV band became harder, while a narrow Fe-K$\alpha$ emission line, detected on all occasions at 6.4 keV of the source rest frame, remained approximately constant in the photon flux. Through a method of variability-assisted broad-band spectroscopy (e.g., Noda et al. 2013), the 2-45 keV spectrum of NGC 3227 was decomposed into three distinct components. One is a relatively soft power-law continuum with a photon index of $\sim 2.3$, weakly absorbed and highly variable on time scales of $\sim5$ ksec; it was observed only when the source was above a threshold luminosity of $\sim6.6 \times10^{41}$ erg s$^{-1}$ (in 2-10 keV), and was responsible for further source brightening beyond. Another is a harder and more absorbed continuum with a photon index of $\sim 1.6$, which persisted through the six observations and varied slowly on time scales of a few weeks by a factor of $\sim2$. This component, carrying a major fraction of the broad-band emission when the source is below the threshold luminosity, is considered as an additional primary emission. The last one is a reflection component with the narrow iron line, produced at large distances from the central black hole.