A closer look at NGC 7314 nuclear region: a multiwavelength analysis of the Seyfert nucleus and its surroundings

TL;DR

This study provides a comprehensive multiwavelength analysis of NGC 7314's nuclear region, revealing complex ionization structures, AGN characteristics, and gas kinematics, enhancing understanding of Seyfert galaxy nuclei.

Contribution

It offers a detailed multiwavelength characterization of NGC 7314's nuclear and circumnuclear regions, combining optical, X-ray, and radio data to study ionization, morphology, and variability.

Findings

Detection of a Seyfert nucleus with broad Hα and Hβ lines.

Identification of an ionization cone and dust obscuration.

X-ray flux variability without column density changes.

Abstract

The central regions of galaxies harbouring active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can be quite complex, especially at high activity, presenting, besides variability, a variety of phenomena related, e.g. to ionization/excitation mechanisms. A detailed study is necessary in order to understand better those objects. For that reason, we performed a multiwavelength analysis of the nuclear region of the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 7314, using an optical data cube obtained with the Integral Field Unit from the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph, together with Hubble Space Telescope images, X-ray data from the XMM-Newton and the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array and radio data from Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array. The goals were to study the nuclear and circumnuclear emission, the emission of the AGN and the gas kinematics. The optical spectrum shows the emission of a Seyfert nucleus, with broad components in the H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ emission lines, characterising a type 1 AGN, with a spectrum rich in coronal emission lines. The spatial morphology of the [OIII]$\lambda$5007 suggests the presence of an ionization cone, west of the nucleus, meanwhile the east cone seems to be obscured by dust. An extended [FeVII]$\lambda$6087 emission was also detected, which could be possibly explained by a scenario involving photoionization+shocks mechanisms. X-rays analyses showed that there are variations in the flux; however, we did not detect any variations in the column density along the line of sight. Its variability may be a consequence of changes in the AGN accretion rate.