Changing-Look AGN (CLAGN) Mkn 590 recently underwent a sudden re-ignition, marked by substantial increases in optical/UV and X-ray continuum flux since last couple of years. Swift-XRT observations revealed the re-emergence of a soft X-ray excess (SXE) as the source transitioned from a low-flux state in July 2023 to a significantly higher flux state in October 2024. This evolution was in response to an order-of-magnitude increase in extreme-UV (EUV) continuum emission, detected by Swift-UVOT. Follow-up optical spectra from FLOYDS Faulkes confirmed the enhancement of dynamically broadened Balmer lines, He II emission, and Fe II complex. As the Eddington fraction increased by a factor of ∼ 20 over the last 20 months, we found clear evidence of formation of a warm corona, strongly linked to the cold accretion disc underneath. Based on our multi-wavelength study on recent data, we propose that Mkn 590 is currently becoming a Seyfert-1.2, similar to its state in 1990s.
@article{arxiv.2501.07225,
title = {Markarian 590: The AGN Awakens},
author = {Biswaraj Palit and Marzena Śniegowska and Alex Markowitz and Agata Różańska and Joseph Farah and D. Andrew Howell},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.07225},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
7 pages, 6 figures; Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters