Polarization constraints on the X-ray corona in Seyfert Galaxies: MCG-05-23-16

DOI: 
10.1093/mnras/stac2634
Publication date: 
08/11/2022
Main author: 
Marinucci, A.
IAA authors: 
Agudo, I.
Authors: 
Marinucci, A.;Muleri, F.;Dovciak, M.;Bianchi, S.;Marin, F.;Matt, G.;Ursini, F.;Middei, R.;Marshall, H. L.;Baldini, L.;Barnouin, T.;Rodriguez, N. Cavero;De Rosa, A.;Di Gesu, L.;Harper, D.;Ingram, A.;Karas, V.;Krawczynski, H.;Madejski, G.;Panagiotou, C.;Petrucci, P. O.;Podgorny, J.;Puccetti, S.;Tombesi, F.;Veledina, A.;Zhang, W.;Agudo, I.;Antonelli, L. A.;Bachetti, M.;Baumgartner, W. H.;Bellazzini, R.;Bongiorno, S. D.;Bonino, R.;Brez, A.;Bucciantini, N.;Capitanio, F.;Castellano, S.;Cavazzuti, E.;Ciprini, S.;Costa, E.;Del Monte, E.;Di Lalla, N.;Di Marco, A.;Donnarumma, I.;Doroshenko, V.;Ehlert, S. R.;Enoto, T.;Evangelista, Y.;Fabiani, S.;Ferrazzoli, R.;Garcia, J. A.;Gunji, S.;Hayashida, K.;Heyl, J.;Iwakiri, W.;Jorstad, S. G.;Kitaguchi, T.;Kolodziejczak, J. J.;La Monaca, F.;Latronico, L.;Liodakis, I.;Maldera, S.;Manfreda, A.;Marscher, A. P.;Mitsuishi, I.;Mizuno, T.;Ng, C. -Y.;O'Dell, S. L.;Omodei, N.;Oppedisano, C.;Papitto, A.;Pavlov, G. G.;Peirson, A. L.;Perri, M.;Pesce-Rollins, M.;Pilia, M.;Possenti, A.;Poutanen, J.;Ramsey, B. D.;Rankin, J.;Ratheesh, A.;Romani, R. W.;Sgrš, C.;Slane, P.;Soffitta, P.;Spandre, G.;Tamagawa, T.;Tavecchio, F.;Taverna, R.;Tawara, Y.;Tennant, A. F.;Thomas, N. E.;Trois, A.;Tsygankov, S. S.;Turolla, R.;Vink, J.;Weisskopf, M. C.;Wu, K.;Xie, F.;Zane, S.
Journal: 
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Publication type: 
Article
Volume: 
516
Pages: 
5907-5913
Abstract: 
We report on the first observation of a radio-quiet active galactic nucleus (AGN) in polarized X-rays: the Seyfert 1.9 galaxy MCG-05-23-16. This source was pointed at with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) starting on 2022 May 14 for a net observing time of 486 ks, simultaneously with XMM-Newton (58 ks) and NuSTAR (83 ks). A polarization degree Π smaller than 4.7 per cent (at the 99 per cent confidence level) is derived in the 2-8 keV energy range, where emission is dominated by the primary component ascribed to the hot corona. The broad-band spectrum, inferred from a simultaneous fit to the IXPE, NuSTAR, and XMM-Newton data, is well reproduced by a power law with photon index Γ = 1.85 ± 0.01 and a high-energy cutoff E<SUB>C</SUB> = 120 ± 15 keV. A comparison with Monte Carlo simulations shows that a lamp-post and a conical geometry of the corona are consistent with the observed upper limit, a slab geometry is allowed only if the inclination angle of the system is less than 50°.
Database: 
ADS
SCOPUS
URL: 
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/#abs/2022MNRAS.516.5907M/abstract
ADS Bibcode: 
2022MNRAS.516.5907M
Keywords: 
galaxies: active;galaxies: individual: MCG-05-23-16 - polarization;galaxies: Seyfert;Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena