Study of the optical to X-ray broad emission lines of Mrk 110

Abstract

Aims. In order to shed light on the characteristics of the broad line region (BLR) in a narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy, we present an analysis of X-ray, UV, and optical spectroscopic observations of the broad emission lines in Mrk 110. Methods. For the broad-band modelling of the emission-line luminosity, we adopt the “locally optimally emitting cloud” approach, which allows us to place constraints on the gas radial and density distribution. By exploring additional environmental effects, we investigate the possible scenarios resulting in the observed spectra. Results. We find that the photoionised gas in Mrk 110 responsible for the UV emission can fully account for the observed low-ionisation X-ray lines. The overall ionisation of the gas is lower, and one radial power-law distribution with a high integrated covering fraction Cf ≈ 0.5 provides an acceptable description of the emission lines spanning from X-rays to the optical band. The BLR is likely more compact than the broad-line Seyfert 1s studied so far, extending from ∼1016 to ∼1018 cm, and limited by the dust sublimation radius at the outer edge. Despite the large colour excess predicted by the Balmer ratio, the best fit suggests E(B − V)≈0.03 for both the ionising luminosity and the BLR, indicating that extinction might be uniform over a range of viewing angles. While the adopted data-modelling technique does not allow us to place constraints on the geometry of the BLR, we show that the addition of models with a clumpy, equatorial, wind-like structure may lead to a better description of the observed spectra.