A Study of the Soft X-ray Emission Lines in NGC 4151 I. Kinematic Properties of the Plasma Wind

TL;DR

This study analyzes the narrow emission lines in NGC 4151 to understand the plasma wind properties over 15 years, finding multiple plasma regions with consistent outflow velocities and distances.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed kinematic analysis of plasma regions in NGC 4151 over a long-term period, revealing stable outflow properties.

Findings

NGC 4151 has at least two to three plasma regions.

Outflow velocities and distances remained consistent over 15 years.

No significant change in plasma wind properties was observed.

Abstract

We present our analysis of the narrow emission lines produced in the plasma regions within the bright active galactic nucleus of NGC 4151, from an ORBYTS research-with-schools public engagement project. Our goal was to test whether the properties of these plasma regions changed between XMM- Newton observations spanning 15 years from 2000 to 2015, by measuring the outflow velocities and distances. From this study, we found that NGC 4151 has at least two to three plasma regions. There is no evidence of the outflowing wind properties changing as the velocities and distances are consistent throughout the observations.