NuSTAR view of the Seyfert galaxy HE 0436-4717

Abstract

We present the multi-epoch spectral analysis of HE 0436-4717, a bright Seyfert 1 galaxy serendipitously observed by the high energy satellite NuSTAR four times between December 2014 and December 2015. The source flux shows modest variability within each pointing and among the four observations. Spectra are well modelled in terms of a weakly variable primary power law with constant photon index (Γ = 2.01 ± 0.08). A constant narrow Fe Kα emission line suggests that this feature has an origin far from the central black hole, while a broad relativistic component is not required by the data. The Compton reflection component is also constant in flux with a corresponding reflection fraction R = 0.7+0.2−0.3. The iron abundance is compatible with solar (AFe = 1.2+1.4−0.4), and a lower limit for the high energy cut-off Ec > 280 keV is obtained. Adopting a self-consistent model accounting for a primary Comptonized continuum, we obtain a lower limit for the hot corona electron temperature kTe > 65 keV and a corresponding upper limit for the coronal optical depth of τe < 1.3. The results of the present analysis are consistent with the locus of local Seyfert galaxies in the kTe − τe and temperature-compactness diagrams.