Related papers: The soft X-ray polarization in obscured AGN
The physical conditions of the gas forming the narrow line regions (NLR) in active galactic nuclei (AGN) have been extensively studied in the optical band. We take advantage of the spectacular extension ($\sim$15") of the NLR in the type II…
Recent ROSAT studies have identified a significant population of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) that are notably faint in soft X-rays relative to their optical fluxes. Are these AGN intrinsically X-ray weak or are they just highly absorbed?…
The Seyfert 1 galaxy, Ark 120, is a prototype example of the so-called class of bare nucleus AGN, whereby there is no known evidence for the presence of ionized gas along the direct line of sight. Here deep ($>400$ ks exposure), high…
The UV to X-ray continuum of active galactic nuclei (AGN) is important for maintaining the ionisation and thermal balance of the warm absorbers (WAs). However, the spectra in the sensitive energy range $\sim \,13.6 -300 \ev$ are…
Highly obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) are common in nearby galaxies, but are difficult to observe beyond the local Universe, where they are expected to significantly contribute to the black hole accretion rate density. Furthermore,…
Early studies of nearby Seyfert galaxies have led to the picture that the Narrow Line Region (NLR) is a cone-shaped region of gas ionized by radiation from a nuclear source collimated by a dusty torus, where the gas is in outflow. In this…
We present the results of a Chandra soft X-ray observation of the spectacular ionization cone in the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5252. As almost invariably observed in obscured AGN, the soft X-ray emission exhibits a remarkable…
We analyse the ROSAT PSPC hardness ratio and the 0.5-2 keV to 2-10 keV flux ratio of 65 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) for which there are both ROSAT archival observations available and 2-10 keV fluxes, mostly from the HEAO-1 MC-LASS survey.…
In this paper we discuss the X-ray properties of 49 local (z<0.035) Seyfert 2 galaxies with HST/WFC2 high-resolution optical coverage. It includes the results of 26 still unpublished Chandra and XMM-Newton observations, which yield 25 (22)…
The majority of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) observed by XMM-Newton reveal narrow Fe K-alpha lines at ~ 6.4 keV, due to emission from cold (neutral) material. There is an X-ray Baldwin effect in Type I AGN, in that the equivalent width of…
Extended narrow-line regions (NLRs) around active galactic nuclei (AGN) are shaped by the distribution of gas in the host galaxy and by the geometry of the circumnuclear obscuration, and thus they can be used to test the AGN unification…
We present a large sample of infrared-luminous candidate active galactic nuclei (AGNs) that lack X-ray detections in Chandra, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR fields. We selected all optically detected SDSS sources with redshift measurements,…
We present the spatial analysis of five Compton thick (CT) active galactic nuclei (AGNs), including MKN 573, NGC 1386, NGC 3393, NGC 5643, and NGC 7212, for which high resolution Chandra observations are available. For each source, we find…
We report the discovery of a candidate active galactic nucleus (AGN), 2XMM J123103.2+110648 at z = 0.13, with an X-ray spectrum represented purely by soft thermal emission reminiscent of Galactic black hole (BH) binaries in the…
Raman scattering by atomic hydrogen converts the UV continuum around Ly$\beta$ into optical continuum around H$\alpha$, and the basic atomic physics has been discussed in several works on symbiotic stars. We propose that the same process…
Obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are thought to be very common in the Universe. Observations and surveys have shown that the number of sources increases for near galaxies and at the low-luminosity regime (the so-called LLAGNs).…
We present a sample of 8 nearby Seyfert 2 galaxies observed by HST and Chandra. All of the sources present soft X-ray emission which is coincident in extension and overall morphology with the [OIII] emission. The spectral analysis reveals…
We present a structural study of 182 obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) at z<=1.5, selected in the COSMOS field from their extreme infrared to X-ray luminosity ratio and their negligible emission at optical wavelengths. We fit optical…
Recent Chandra and XMM-Newton surveys have uncovered a large fraction of the obscured AGN responsible of the hard X-ray background. One of the most intriguing results of extensive programs of follow-up observations concerns the optical and…
The surfaces of neutron stars are likely sources of strongly polarized soft X rays due to the presence of strong magnetic fields. Scattering transport in the surface layers is critical to the determination of the emergent anisotropy of…