Abstract
We present the results of our 600 ks RGS observation as part of the multiwavelength campaign on Mrk 509. The very high quality of the spectrum allows us to investigate the ionized outflow with an unprecedented accuracy due to the long exposure and the use of the RGS multipointing mode. We detect multiple absorption lines from the interstellar medium and from the ionized absorber in Mrk 509. A number of emission components are also detected, including broad emission lines consistent with an origin in the broad line region, the narrow OVII forbidden emission line and also (narrow) radiative recombination continua. The ionized absorber consists of two velocity components (v = -13 \pm 11 km/s and v = -319 \pm 14 km/s), which both are consistent with earlier results, including UV data. There is another tentative component outflowing at high velocity, -770 \pm 109 km/s, which is only seen in a few highly ionized absorption lines. The outflow shows discrete ionization components, spanning four orders of magnitude in ionization parameter. Due to the excellent statistics of our spectrum, we demonstrate for the first time that the outflow in Mrk 509 in the important range of log xi between 1-3 cannot be described by a smooth, continuous absorption measure distribution, but instead shows two strong, discrete peaks. At the highest and lowest ionization parameters we cannot differentiate smooth and discrete components.
Highlights
One of the main reasons to study active galactic nuclei (AGN) is to learn about feedback from the AGN to the galaxy and its direct environments
The ionized absorber consists of two velocity components (v = −13 ± 11 km s−1 and v = −319 ± 14 km s−1), which both are consistent with earlier results, including UV data
Due to the excellent statistics of our spectrum, we demonstrate for the first time that the outflow in Mrk 509 in the important range of log ξ between 1−3 cannot be described by a smooth, continuous absorption measure distribution, but instead shows two strong, discrete peaks
Summary
One of the main reasons to study active galactic nuclei (AGN) is to learn about feedback from the AGN to the galaxy and its direct environments. Holczer et al (2007) and Behar (2009) have shown that for most local Seyfert 1 galaxies with an outflow, a continuous distribution of column density vs ionization parameter is the best description of the data. What they show is that there are distinct ξ values where no is gas present. We present the main results obtained from the stacked 600 ks XMM-Newton RGS spectrum With this spectrum, we are able to characterize the properties of the ionized outflow in great detail (velocities, ionization states, column densities, density profile, etc.).
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