Warm absorbers in active galactic nuclei

Abstract

We first provide a review of the properties of warm absorbers concentrating on what we have learned from ROSAT and ASCA. This includes dusty and dust-free warm absorbers, non-X-ray emission and absorption features of warm absorbers, and the possible warm absorber interpretation of the peculiar 1.1 keV features. We then discuss facets of warm absorbers by a more detailed investigation of individual objects: In a first part, we discuss several candidates for dusty warm absorbers. In a second part, we review and extend our earlier study of a possible relation between warm absorber and CLR in NGC 4051, and confirm that both components are of different origin (the observed coronal lines are underpredicted by the models, the warm absorber is too highly ionized). We then suggest that a potential overprediction of these lines in more lowly ionized absorbers can be avoided if these warm absorbers are dusty. In a third part, we present first results of an analysis of a deep ROSAT PSPC observation of the quasar MR2251-178, the first one discovered to host a warm absorber. Finally, we summarize our scrutiny under which conditions a warm absorber could account for the dramatic spectral variability of the Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy RXJ0134-4258.