Delving into the depths of NGC 3783 with XRISM

We present our study of the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) observation of the Seyfert-1 galaxy NGC 3783. XRISM’s Resolve microcalorimeter has enabled, for the first time, a detailed characterization of the highly ionized outflows in this active galactic nucleus. Our analysis constrains their outflow and turbulent velocities, along with their ionization parameter ( ξ ) and column density ( N H ). The high-resolution Resolve spectrum reveals a distinct series of Fe absorption lines between 6.4 and 7.8 keV, ranging from Fe XVIII to Fe XXVI . At lower energies (1.8−3.3 keV), absorption features from Si, S, and Ar are also detected. Our spectroscopy and photoionization modeling of the time-averaged Resolve spectrum uncovers six outflow components, five of which exhibit relatively narrow absorption lines with outflow velocities ranging from 560 to 1170 km s −1 . In addition, a broad absorption feature is detected, which is consistent with Fe XXVI outflowing at 14 300 km s −1 (0.05 c ). The kinetic luminosity of this component is 0.8−3% of the bolometric luminosity. Our analysis of the Resolve spectrum shows that more highly ionized absorption lines are intrinsically broader than those of lower-ionization species, indicating that the turbulent velocity of the six outflow components (ranging from 0 to 3500 km s −1 ) increases with ξ . Furthermore, we find that the column density ( N H ) of the outflows generally declines with the ionization parameter up to log ξ = 3.2 but rises beyond this point, suggesting a complex ionization structure. The absorption profile of the Fe XXV resonance line is intriguingly similar to UV absorption lines (Ly α and C IV ) observed by the Hubble Space Telescope, from which we infer that the outflows are clumpy in nature. Our XRISM/Resolve results from lower- and higher-ionization regimes support a “hybrid wind” scenario in which the observed outflows have multiple origins and driving mechanisms. We explore various interpretations of our findings within active galactic nucleus wind models.

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Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Published
2025-06-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202555623
Citations
9
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
10.39

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article

Delving into the depths of NGC 3783 with XRISM

Kouichi Hagino, J. S. Kaastra, Erin Kara, Hirofumi Noda et al.
9 citations
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
10.39
article

Delving into the depths of NGC 3783 with XRISM

Kouichi Hagino, J. S. Kaastra, Erin Kara, Hirofumi Noda, J. M. Mïller, M. Mehdipour, T. R. Kallman, Megan E. Eckart, C. M. Diez, Keigo Fukumura, M. Guainazzi, Christos Panagiotou, Ralf Ballhausen, Misaki Mizumoto, A. Tanimoto, Shoji Ogawa, Keqin Zhao, Chen Li, Ehud Behar, Liyi Gu
article en
9 citations

Abstract

We present our study of the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) observation of the Seyfert-1 galaxy NGC 3783. XRISM’s Resolve microcalorimeter has enabled, for the first time, a detailed characterization of the highly ionized outflows in this active galactic nucleus. Our analysis constrains their outflow and turbulent velocities, along with their ionization parameter ( ξ ) and column density ( N H ). The high-resolution Resolve spectrum reveals a distinct series of Fe absorption lines between 6.4 and 7.8 keV, ranging from Fe XVIII to Fe XXVI . At lower energies (1.8−3.3 keV), absorption features from Si, S, and Ar are also detected. Our spectroscopy and photoionization modeling of the time-averaged Resolve spectrum uncovers six outflow components, five of which exhibit relatively narrow absorption lines with outflow velocities ranging from 560 to 1170 km s −1 . In addition, a broad absorption feature is detected, which is consistent with Fe XXVI outflowing at 14 300 km s −1 (0.05 c ). The kinetic luminosity of this component is 0.8−3% of the bolometric luminosity. Our analysis of the Resolve spectrum shows that more highly ionized absorption lines are intrinsically broader than those of lower-ionization species, indicating that the turbulent velocity of the six outflow components (ranging from 0 to 3500 km s −1 ) increases with ξ . Furthermore, we find that the column density ( N H ) of the outflows generally declines with the ionization parameter up to log ξ = 3.2 but rises beyond this point, suggesting a complex ionization structure. The absorption profile of the Fe XXV resonance line is intriguingly similar to UV absorption lines (Ly α and C IV ) observed by the Hubble Space Telescope, from which we infer that the outflows are clumpy in nature. Our XRISM/Resolve results from lower- and higher-ionization regimes support a “hybrid wind” scenario in which the observed outflows have multiple origins and driving mechanisms. We explore various interpretations of our findings within active galactic nucleus wind models.

Astronomy and AstrophysicsVol. 699
Kagoshima University (JP), James Madison University (US), Leiden University (NL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (US), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (IL), Tohoku University (JP), University of Michigan (US), University of Teacher Education Fukuoka (JP), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JP), European Space Astronomy Centre (ES), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (JP), European Space Research and Technology Centre (NL), Space Research Organisation Netherlands (NL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US), University of Maryland, College Park (US), The University of Tokyo (JP)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Space Telescope Science Institute
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
10.39
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