2025ApJ...981..126F


Query : 2025ApJ...981..126F

2025ApJ...981..126F - Astrophys. J., 981, 126 (2025/March-2)

Tracking X-Ray Variability in Next-generation EHT Low-luminosity Active Galactic Nucleus Targets.

FORD N.M., NOWAK M., RAMAKRISHNAN V., HAGGARD D., DAGE K., NAIR D.G. and CHAN C.-K.

Abstract (from CDS):

We present a 5 month NICER X-ray monitoring campaign for two low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs)-NGC 4594 and IC 1459-with complementary Swift and NuSTAR observations. Utilizing an absorbed power-law and thermal source model combined with NICER's SCORPEON background model, we demonstrate the effectiveness of joint source-background modeling for constraining emission from faint, background-dominated targets. Both sources are dominated by nuclear power-law emission with photon indices Γ ∼ 1.5-2, with NGC 4594 being slightly harder than IC 1459. The thermal contribution in both sources is fainter, but constant, with kT ∼ 0.5 keV (∼5 × 106 K). The power-law flux and Γ are strongly anticorrelated in both sources, as has been seen for other LLAGNs with radiatively inefficient accretion flows. NGC 4594 is the brighter source and exhibits significant aperiodic variability. Its variability timescale with an upper limit of 5-7 days indicates emission originating from ≲100 rg, at the scale of the inner accretion flow. A spectral break found at ∼6 keV, while tentative, could arise from synchrotron/inverse Compton emission. This high-cadence LLAGN X-ray monitoring campaign underlines the importance of multiwavelength variability studies for a sample of LLAGNs to truly understand their accretion and outflow physics.

Abstract Copyright: © 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.

Journal keyword(s): Active galaxies - X-ray active galactic nuclei - LINER galaxies

Simbad objects: 7

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Number of rows : 7
N Identifier Otype ICRS (J2000)
RA
ICRS (J2000)
DEC
Mag U Mag B Mag V Mag R Mag I Sp type #ref
1850 - 2026
#notes
1 M 81 Sy2 09 55 33.1726556496 +69 03 55.062505368   7.89 6.94     ~ 4725 3
2 NGC 3147 Sy2 10 16 53.6388580752 +73 24 02.641798224   11.43 10.61     ~ 533 2
3 NGC 3998 Sy2 11 57 56.1334044408 +55 27 12.922443432   11.64 12.10 10.09   ~ 682 2
4 M 87 AGN 12 30 49.42338414 +12 23 28.0436859 10.16 9.59 8.63   7.49 ~ 7815 3
5 M 104 LIN 12 39 59.43185902 -11 37 22.9961800 9.51 9.55 8.00 8.05   ~ 1465 2
6 NAME Sgr A* X 17 45 40.03599 -29 00 28.1699           ~ 4970 3
7 IC 1459 rG 22 57 10.60682195 -36 27 43.9966421   10.96 11.85 9.34 10.3 ~ 652 2

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