Multi-wavelength campaign on NGC 7469

Abstract

We investigate the physical structure of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) wind in the Seyfert-1 galaxy NGC 7469 through high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy with Chandra HETGS and photoionisation modelling. Contemporaneous data from Chandra, HST, and Swift are used to model the optical-UV-X-ray continuum and determine the spectral energy distribution (SED) at two epochs, 13 yr apart. For our investigation we use new observations taken in December 2015–January 2016, and historical ones taken in December 2002. We study the impact of a change in the SED shape, seen between the two epochs, on the photoionisation of the wind. The HETGS spectroscopy shows that the AGN wind in NGC 7469 consists of four ionisation components, with their outflow velocities ranging from − 400 to − 1800 km s-1. From our modelling we find that the change in the ionising continuum shape between the two epochs results in some variation in the ionisation state of the wind components. However, for the main ions detected in X-rays, the sum of their column densities over all components remains in practice unchanged. For two of the four components, which are found to be thermally unstable in both epochs, we obtain 2 < r < 31 pc and 12 < r < 29 pc using the cooling and recombination timescales. For the other two thermally stable components, we obtain r < 31 pc and r < 80 pc from the recombination timescale. The results of our photoionisation modelling and thermal stability analysis suggest that the absorber components in NGC 7469 are consistent with being a thermally driven wind from the AGN torus. Finally, from analysis of the zeroth-order ACIS/HETG data, we discover that the X-ray emission in the range 0.2–1 keV is spatially extended over 1.5–12′′. This diffuse soft X-ray emission is explained by coronal emission from the nuclear starburst ring in NGC 7469. The star formation rate inferred from this diffuse soft X-ray emission is consistent with those found by far-infrared studies of NGC 7469.