Multiwavelength studies of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469 II. X-ray and UV observations with XMM-Newton

Abstract

We present an XMM-Newton observation of NGC 7469, including studies of the X-ray and UV variability, 0.2-10 keV spectral continuum, Fe Kα emission line and the first-ever high-resolution X-ray spectrum of the soft X-ray warm absorber. We compare the properties of this X-ray warm absorber with the UV warm absorber as seen in a FUSE observation one year previously. The 0.2-10 keV spectral continuum is best fitted by a power-law plus two blackbody model. An Fe Kα emission line is visible which consists of a single narrow component and is well-modelled by a simple Gaussian. Narrow absorption and emission lines in the soft X-ray RGS spectrum demonstrate the existence of a multi-phase warm absorber with a range in log ξ of ∼2 to ∼-2 where ξ is in erg cm s-1. The warm absorber is blueshifted by several hundred km s-1. The highest-ionisation phase of the absorber is the best constrained and has an overall equivalent Hydrogen column of order 1020 cm-2; we find that its ionisation parameter is consistent with that of the warm emitter which generates the narrow emission lines. We identify this high ionisation absorber with the low-velocity phase of the UV absorber observed by FUSE.