Finding AGN in Deep X-ray Flux States with Swift

TL;DR

This study uses Swift observations to identify and analyze AGN that enter deep X-ray flux states, with follow-up observations revealing significant flux drops, especially in Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel approach of combining Swift monitoring with XMM-Newton follow-up to detect and study AGN in deep X-ray flux states.

Findings

Several AGN, including Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies, show significant flux drops.

RX J2317-4422 decreased by a factor of about 60 compared to ROSAT.

Follow-up observations have been successful in studying these flux states.

Abstract

We report on our ongoing project of finding Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) that go into deep X-ray flux states detected by Swift. Swift is performing an extensive study on the flux and spectral variability of AGN using Guest Investigator and team fill-in programs followed by triggering XMM_Newton for deeper follow-up observations. So far this program has been very successful and has led to a number of XMM-Newton follow up observations, including Mkn 335, PG 0844+349, and RX J2340.8-5329. Recent analysis of new Swift AGN observations reveal several AGN went into a very low X-ray flux state, particularly Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies. One of these is RX J2317-4422, which dropped by a factor of about 60 when compared to the ROSAT All-Sky Survey.