Search

CSS J102913+404220 is a peculiar narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxy with an energetic nuclear optical outburst. We present a detailed analysis of its multi-wavelength photometric and spectroscopic observations covering a period of decade since outburst. We detect mid-infrared (MIR) flares delayed by about two months relative to the optical outburst, with an extremely high peak luminosity of log(L_4.6um)>44 erg/s. The MIR peak luminosity is at least an order of magnitude higher than any known supernovae explosions, suggesting the optical outburst might be due to a stellar tidal disruption event (TDE). We find late-time X-ray brightening by a factor of >30 with respect to what is observed about 100 days after the optical outburst peak, followed by a flux fading by a factor of ~4 within two weeks, making it one of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) with extreme variability. Despite the dramatic X-ray variability, there are no coincident strong flux variations in optical, UV and MIR bands. This unusual variability behavior has been seen in other highly accreting AGNs and could be attributed to absorption variability. In this scenario, the decrease in the covering factor of absorber with accretion rate could cause the X-ray brightening, possibly induced by the TDE. Most strikingly, while the UV/optical continuum remains little changes with time, an evident enhancement in the flux of H_alpha broad emission line is observed, about a decade after the nuclear optical outburst, which is an anomalous behavior never seen in any other AGNs. Such an H_alpha anomaly could be explained by the replenishment of gas clouds and excitation within Broad Line Region (BLR) that originates, perhaps from the interaction of outflowing stellar debris with BLR. The results highlight the importance of late-time evolution of TDE that could affect the accreting properties of AGN, as suggested by recent simulations., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 16 pages, 16 figures and 4 Tables

SDSS J134244.4+053056 is a tidal disruption event candidate with strong temporal coronal line emitters and a long fading, mid-infrared dust echo. We present detailed analyses of X-ray emission from a Swift/XRT observation in 2009 and the most recent XMM-Newton/pn observation in 2020. The two spectra can be modeled with hard and soft components. While no significant variability is detected in the hard component above 2 keV between these two observations, the soft X-ray emission in 0.3-2 keV varies by a factor of $\sim5$. The luminosity of this soft component fades from $\sim1.8\times10^{41}$ to $\sim3.7\times10^{40}$ erg s$^{-1}$ from the observation in Swift to that of XMM-Newton, which are 8 and 19 years after the outburst occurred, respectively. The evolution of luminosity matches with the $t^{-5/3}$ decline law well; there is a soft X-ray peak luminosity of 10$^{44}$ erg s$^{-1}$ at the time of the optical flare. Furthermore, the spectra of the soft component harden slightly in the decay phase, in which the photon index $\Gamma$ varies from $4.8^{+1.2}_{-0.9}$ to $3.7\pm0.5$, although they are consistent with each other if we consider the uncertainties. Additionally, by comparing the BH mass estimate between the $M-\sigma$ correlation, the broad H$\alpha$ emission, and the fundamental plane relation of BH accretion, we find that a value of $\sim10^{5}$Msun is favored. If so, taking its X-ray spectral variation, luminosity evolution, and further support from theory into account, we suggest that SDSS J134244.4+053056 is a long-lived tidal disruption event candidate lasting more than 18 years with an intermediate-mass black hole., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics

RX J1301.9+2747 is an ultrasoft active galactic nucleus (AGN) with unusual X-ray variability that is characterized by a long quiescent state and a short-lived flare state. The X-ray flares are found to recur quasi-periodically on a timescale of 13-20 ks. Here, we report the analysis of the light curve in the quiescent state from two XMM observations spanning 18.5 years, along with the discovery of a possible quasi-periodic X-ray oscillation (QPO) with a period of ~1500s. The QPO is detected at the same frequency in the two independent observations, with a combined significance of >99.89%. The QPO is in agreement with the relation between frequency and black hole mass (M_BH) that has been reported in previous works for AGNs and Galactic black hole X-ray binaries (XRBs). The QPO frequency is stable over almost two decades, suggesting that it may correspond to the high-frequency type found in XRBs and originates, perhaps, from a certain disk resonance mode. In the 3:2 twin-frequency resonance model, our best estimate on the M_BH range implies that a maximal black hole spin can be ruled out. We find that all ultrasoft AGNs reported so far display quasi-periodicities in the X-ray emission, suggesting a possible link on the part of the extreme variability phenomenon to the ultrasoft X-ray component. This indicates that ultrasoft AGNs could be the most promising candidates in future searches for X-ray periodicities., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures and 4 supplementary figures, to appear in A&A Letters

We present 5.5 GHz observations with the VLA of a sample of nearby galaxies with energetic nuclear outbursts at mid-infrared (MIR) bands. These observations reach a uniform depth down to a median rms of ~10 uJy, representing one of most sensitive searches for radio emission associated with nuclear transients. We detect radio emission in 12 out of 16 galaxies at a level of >5sigma, corresponding to a detection rate of 75%. Such a high detection is remarkably different from previous similar searches in stellar tidal disruption events. The radio emission is compact and not resolved for the majority of sources on scales of ~<0.5" (<0.9 kpc at z<0.1). We find the possibility of the star-formation contributing to the radio emission is low, but an AGN origin remains a plausible scenario, especially for sources that show evidence of AGN activity in their optical spectra. If the detections could represent radio emission associated with nuclear transient phenomenon such as jet or outflow, we use the blast wave model by analogy with the GRB afterglows to describe the evolution of radio light curves. In this context, the observations are consistent with a decelerating jet with an energy of ~10^{51-52} erg viewed at 30\degree-60\degree off-axis at later times, suggesting that powerful jets may be ubiquitous among MIR-burst galaxies. Future continuous monitoring observations will be crucial to decipher the origin of radio emission through detections of potential flux and spectral evolution. Our results highlight the importance of radio observations to constrain the nature of nuclear MIR outbursts in galaxies., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

GSN 069 is an optically identified very low-mass AGN which shows supersoft X-ray emission. The source is known to exhibit huge X-ray outburst, with flux increased by more than a factor of ~240 compared to the quiescence state. We report its long-term evolution in the X-ray flux and spectral variations over a time-scale of ~decade, using both new and archival X-ray observations from the XMM and Swift. The new Swift observations detected the source in its lowest level of X-ray activity since outburst, a factor of ~4 lower in the 0.2-2 keV flux than that obtained with the XMM observations nearly 8 years ago. Combining with the historical X-ray measurements, we find that the X-ray flux is decreasing slowly. There seemed to be spectral softening associated with the drop of X-ray flux. In addition, we find evidence for the presence of a weak, variable hard X-ray component, in addition to the dominant thermal blackbody emission reported before. The long decay of X-ray flux and spectral evolution, as well as the supersoft X-ray spectra, suggest that the source could be a tidal disruption event, though a highly variable AGN cannot be fully ruled out. Further continued X-ray monitoring would be required to test the TDE interpretation, through better determining the flux evolution in the decay phase., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, published in the ApJ letters

We report on Chandra X-ray observations of four candidate low-mass black hole (<10^6Msun) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) that have the estimated Eddington ratios among the lowest (~10^(-2)) found for this class. The aims are to validate the nature of their AGNs and to confirm the low Eddington ratios that are derived from the broad H_alpha line, and to explore this poorly studied regime in the AGN parameter space. Among them, two objects with the lowest significance of the broad lines are also observed with Multi-Mirror Telescope, and the high-quality optical spectra taken confirm them as Seyfert 1 AGNs and as having small black hole masses. X-ray emission is detected from the nuclei of two of the galaxies, which is variable on timescales of 10^3s, whereas no significant (or only marginal at best) detection is found for the remaining two. The X-ray luminosities are on the order of 10^(41) ergs/s or even lower, on the order of 10^(40) ergs/s for non-detections, which are among the lowest regimes ever probed for Seyfert galaxies. The low X-ray luminosities, compared to their black hole masses derived from H_alpha, confirm their low accretion rates assuming typical bolometric corrections. Our results hint at the existence of a possibly large population of under-luminous low-mass black holes in the local universe. An off-nucleus ultra-luminous X-ray source (ULX) in one of the dwarf galaxies is detected serendipitously, with a luminosity (6-9)x10^(39) ergs/s in 2-10 keV., Comment: ApJ in press (February 2014 issue), 6 figures

The ensemble optical/ultraviolet variability of narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) type active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is investigated, based on a sample selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe-82 region with multi-epoch photometric scanning data. As a comparison a control sample of broad-line Seyfert 1 (BLS1) type AGNs is also incorporated. To quantify properly the intrinsic variation amplitudes and their uncertainties, a novel method of parametric maximum-likelihood is introduced, that has, as we argued, certain virtues over previously used methods. The majority of NLS1-type AGNs exhibit significant variability on timescales from about ten days to a few years with, however, on average smaller amplitudes compared to BLS1-type AGNs. About 20 NLS1- type AGNs showing relatively large variations are presented, that may deserve future monitoring observations, for instance, reverberation mapping. The averaged structure functions of variability, constructed using the same maximumlikelihood method, show remarkable similarity in shape for the two types of AGNs on timescales longer than about 10 days, which can be approximated by a power-law or an exponential function. This, along with other similar properties, such as the wavelength-dependent variability, are indicative of a common dominant mechanism responsible for the long-term optical/UV variability of both NLS1- and BLS1-type AGNs. Towards the short timescales, however, there is tentative evidence that the structure function of NLS1-type AGNs continues declining, whereas that of BLS1-type AGNs flattens with some residual variability on timescales of days. If this can be confirmed, it may suggest that an alternative mechanism, such as X-ray reprocessing, starts to become dominating in BLS1-type AGNs, but not in NLS1-, on such timescales., Comment: 53 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables, accepted for pulication in AJ

Narrow-line Seyfert\,1 galaxies (NLS1s) with very small broad-line widths (say, FWHM(\hb) $\la $ 1200\,\kms) represent the extreme type of Seyfert\,1 galaxies that have small black hole masses (\mbh) and/or high Eddington ratios (\redd). Here we study the X-ray properties of a homogeneously and optically selected sample of 13 such objects, termed as very narrow line Seyfert\,1 galaxies (VNLS1s), using archival \xmm\ data. It is found that the Fe K$\alpha$ emission line is at most weak in these objects. A soft X-ray excess is ubiquitous, with the thermal temperatures falling within a strict range of 0.1--0.2\,keV. Our result highlights the puzzling independence of the thermal temperature by extending the relations to even smaller FWHM(\hb), i.e., smaller \mbh\ ($\sim 10^6$ \msun) and/or higher \redd. The excess emission can be modeled by a range of viable models, though the disk reflection and Comptonization models generally give somewhat better fits over the smeared absorption and the $p$-free models. At the Eddington ratios around unity and above, the X-ray spectral slopes in the 2--10\,keV band are systematically flatter than the Risaliti et al.'s predictions of the relationship with \redd\ suggested previously. Short timescale (1--2 hours) X-ray variability is common, which, together with the variability amplitude computed for some of the objects, are supportive of the scenario that NLS1s are indeed AGN with relatively small \mbh., Comment: 11 figures and 4 table. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

The dependence of the long-term optical/UV variability on the spectral and the fundamental physical parameters for radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is investigated. The multi-epoch repeated photometric scanning data in the Stripe-82 region of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) are exploited for two comparative AGN samples (mostly quasars) selected therein, a broad-line Seyfert\,1 (BLS1) type sample and a narrow-line Seyfert\,1 (NLS1) type AGN sample within redshifts 0.3--0.8. Their spectral parameters are derived from the SDSS spectroscopic data. It is found that on rest-frame timescales of several years the NLS1-type AGNs show systematically smaller variability compared to the BLS1-type. In fact, the variability amplitude is found to correlate, though only moderately, with the Eigenvector\,1 parameters, i.e., the smaller the \hb\ linewidth, the weaker the [O\,III] and the stronger the \feii\ emission, the smaller the variability amplitude is. Moreover, an interesting inverse correlation is found between the variability and the Eddington ratio, which is perhaps more fundamental. The previously known dependence of the variability on luminosity is not significant, and that on black hole mass---as claimed in recent papers and also present in our data---fades out when controlling for the Eddington ratio in the correlation analysis, though these may be partly due to the limited ranges of luminosity and black hole mass of our samples. Our result strongly supports that an accretion disk is likely to play a major role in producing the opitcal/UV variability., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

We present a detailed study of the X-ray and optical spectra of the luminous Seyfert galaxy Mrk 1393, which revealed variable partial obscuration of the active nucleus. The X-ray spectra obtained by XMM-Newton and Swift show moderate absorption with a column density around 3x10^21 cm^-2, consistent with a dust-reddening interpretation of the steep Balmer decrement seen in recent optical spectra. The X-ray flux in the 0.5 to 2 keV band during the XMM-Newton observation in 2005 and Swift observation in 2006 was a factor 6 brighter than that of the ROSAT All Sky Survey in 1991. In the past 4 years, the broad H\alpha line brightened by a factor of 4 accompanied by a decrease in the Balmer decrement. A comparison with literature spectra reveals variations in the dust extinction on time scales of several years, suggesting that the obscuring material is very close to the active nucleus. These observations indicate that a dust-to-gas ratio as high as the Galactic value can be present in moderately thick gas in the vicinity of the central engine within a few parsecs. We suggest that the obscuring material may be debris disrupted from the dusty torus., Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures, accepted to AJ

We present the results of EVN+MERLIN VLBI polarization observations of 8 Broad Absorption Line (BAL) quasars at 1.6 GHz, including 4 LoBALs and 4 HiBALs with either steep or flat spectra on VLA scales. Only one steep-spectrum source, J1122+3124, shows two-sided structure on the scale of 2 kpc. The other four steep-spectrum sources and three flat-spectrum sources display either an unresolved image or a core-jet structure on scales of less than three hundred parsecs. In all cases the marginally resolved core is the dominant radio component. Linear polarization in the cores has been detected in the range of a few to 10 percent. Polarization, together with high brightness temperatures (from 2*10^9-5*10^10 K), suggest a synchrotron origin for the radio emission. There is no apparent difference in the radio orphologies or polarization between low-ionization and high-ionization BAL QSOs nor between flat- and steep-spectrum sources. We discuss the orientation of BAL QSOs with both flat and steep spectra, and consider a possible evolutionary scenario for BAL QSOs. In this scenario, BAL QSOs are probably the young population of radio sources, which are Compact Steep Spectrum or GHz peaked radio source analog at the low end of radio power., Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in MNRAS

(abridged) We present a comprehensive study of a sample of 23 genuine radio-loud NLS1 galaxies which have the radio-loudness parameters greater than 100. The radio sources of the sample are ubiquitously compact. A significant fraction of these objects show interesting radio to X-ray properties that are unusual to most of the previously known radio-loud NLS1 AGN, but are reminiscent of blazars. These include flat radio spectra, large amplitude flux and spectral variability, compact VLBI cores, very high brightness temperatures derived from variability, enhanced optical emission in excess of the normal ionising continuum, flat X-ray spectra, and blazar-like SEDs. We interpret them as evidence for the postulated blazar nature of these very radio-loud NLS1 AGN, which might possess at least moderately relativistic jets. Intrinsically, some of the objects have relatively low radio power and would have been classified as radio-intermediate AGN. The black hole masses are estimated to be within 10^{6-8}Msun, and the inferred Eddington ratios are around unity. The results imply that radio-loud AGN may be powered by black holes with moderate masses (10^{6-7}Msun) accreting at high rates. We find that a significant fraction of the objects, despite having strong emission lines, resemble high-energy peaked BL Lacs (HBL) in their SED. Given the peculiarities of blazar-like NLS1 galaxies, questions arise as to whether they are plain downsizing extensions of normal radio-loud AGN, or whether they form a previously unrecognised population., Comment: Comments: 29 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ

Most Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) exhibit a narrow Fe Kalpha line at ~ 6.4 keV in the X-ray spectra, due to the fluorescent emission from cold material far from the inner accretion disk. Using XMM-Newton observations, Page et al. found that the equivalent width (EW) of the narrow Fe Kalpha line decreases with increasing luminosity (EW ~ L^-0.17pm0.08), suggesting a decrease in the covering factor of the material emitting the line (presumably the torus). By combining the archival Chandra HETG observations of 34 type 1 AGNs with XMM observations in literature, we build a much large sample with 101 AGNs. We find a similar X-ray Baldwin effect in the sample (EW ~ L^-0.2015pm0.0426), however, we note that the anti-correlation is dominated by the radio loud AGN in the sample, whose X-ray spectra might be contaminated by the relativistic jet. Excluding the radio loud AGN, we find a much weaker anti-correlation (EW ~ L^-0.1019pm0.0524). We present Monte-Carlo simulations showing that such a weak anti-correlation can be attributed to the relative short time scale variations of the X-ray continuum., Comment: 21 pages, including 3 tables and 7 figures, ApJ 2006, v644 in press

We build a large sample of Seyfert 2 galaxies (Sy2s) with both optical spectropolarimetric and X-ray data available, in which 29 Sy2s with the detection of polarized broad emission line (PBL) and 25 without. We find that for luminous Sy2s with L_[OIII] > 10^41 erg/s, sources with PBL have smaller X-ray absorption column density comparing with those without PBL (at 92.3% confidence level): most of the Sy2s with N_H<10^23.8 cm^-2 show PBL (86%, 12 out 14), while the fraction is much smaller for sources with heavier obscuration (54%, 15 out 28). The confidence level of the difference in absorption bounces up to 99.1% while using the "T" ratio (F_2-10keV/F_[O III]) as an indicator. We rule out observation or selection bias as the origin for the difference. Our results, for the first time with high statistical confidence, show that, in additional to the nuclei activity, the nuclear obscuration also plays an important role in the visibility of PBL in Sy2s. These results can be interpreted in the framework of the unified model. We can reach these results in the unified model if: a) the absorption column density is higher at large inclinations and b) the scattering region is obscured at large inclinations., Comment: 28 pages, including 7 figures and 3 tables, ApJ accepted

In this letter we report the detection of a strong and extremely blueshifted X-ray absorption feature in the 1 Ms Chandra spectrum of CXO CDFS J033260.0-274748, a quasar at z = 2.579 with L_2-10keV ~ 4x10^44 ergs/s. The broad absorption feature at ~ 6.3 keV in the observed frame can be fitted either as an absorption edge at 20.9 keV or as a broad absorption line at 22.2 keV rest frame. The absorber has to be extremely ionized with an ionization parameter \xi ~ 10^4, and a high column density N_H >5x10^23 cm^-2. We reject the possibility of a statistical or instrumental artifact. The most likely interpretation is an extremely blueshifted broad absorption line or absorption edge, due to H or He--like iron in a relativistic jet-like outflow with bulk velocity of ~ 0.7-0.8 c. Similar relativistic outflows have been reported in the X-ray spectra of several other AGNs in the past few years., Comment: ApJ letter accepted

Double-peaked Balmer lines have been observed in about 150 AGNs and were interpreted preferably as emission from relativistic accretion disks. In this paper, we report the discovery of extreme double-peaked lines in SDSS J0942+0900 and SDSS J1417+6141. The FWHM of the Halpha line ~40,600 km/s in the first object is almost twice as large as the broadest one previously known. By comparing the line profile with accretion disk models, we find that most of the line flux is emitted from a narrow annulus around 100Rg in SDSS J0942+0900, and from a disk of radii between 100 and 400Rg in SDSS J1417+6141. This is the first time that an accretion disk at radii below 100Rg can be directly probed through optical emission lines. A certain asymmetry in the disk is required for both objects. Another much weaker broad Halpha component (EW~20A, and FWHM 4000km/s) is also detected in both objects. Both objects show weak radio emission and strong high-ionization narrow lines., Comment: ApJ Letters accepted

Controversy regarding whether Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) follow the same black hole --- galactic bulge relation as normal galaxies has been raised by Mathur et al. (2001) and Ferrarese et al. (2001). In this paper, the correlation between the black hole mass and the velocity dispersion of the narrow line region, indicated by the [OIII] line width for a heterogeneous sample of NLS1s, is examined. We show that the non-virial component subtracted [OIII] width, which may well represent the stellar velocity dispersion ($\sigma$), correlates with the estimated black hole mass $M_bh$, made using the empirical law for broad line region sizefrom the reverberation mapping measurements. Considering measurement errors, we find that the relation between $M_bh$ and the [OIII] width in active galactic nuclei (both NLS1s in this paper and normal Seyferts in Nelson 2000) is consistent with that defined in nearby hot galaxies (ellipticals and spiral bulge) but with more scatter. It seems that there is no clear difference in the relation between $M_bh$ and $\sigma$ (represented by the [OIII] width for AGN) in both NLS1s and normal broad line active galactic nuclei from the same relation defined by nearby hot galaxies., Comment: 8 pages, including 2 figures, A&A accepted

We report the detection of a very short time scale flare in the radio-loud narrow line quasars PKS 0558-504 by using ASCA. The X-ray count rates increased and decreased by a factor of two in 33 minutes, and possibly by 40% in as short as two minutes during this flare, confirming that such flare event does occur in this object with imaging detectors. The implied largest rate of change in luminosity in 0.8-10 keV alone, dL/dt=(1.8+/-0.4) 10^{42} ergs s^-2, is several times higher than the limit sets for the isotropic emitting plasma around a Kerr black hole. Either emission from a relativistic boosting jet or a magnetic heated corona may explain such high radiative efficiency. Magnetic field with a strength of at least a few 10^4 Gauss is required in the latter case. The spectrum during this flare is significant harder than the average one. Three radio loud narrow line active galactic nuclei (AGN) possess considerably smaller black holes than in radio loud AGN in bright quasar survey, indicating they are still in a phase of the rapid growth of the black hole by accretion., Comment: 10 pages, ApJ accepted

Recent observations of Broad Absorption Line (BAL) quasars demonstrated that the soft X-ray emission of these objects is extremely weak and convincing evidence for very strong absorption by a high column density (~ 10^23.5 cm^-2) was obtained for PG 1411+442, even though it is one of the few BAL QSOs strongly detected in soft X-rays. This paper examines the ionization status and geometry of the X-ray absorber by combining the properties of the UV lines with the X-ray continuum absorption. We show that the gas has to have large column densities in ions of major UV absorption lines, such as CIV, NV, OVI and Ne VIII, in order to have sufficient opacity around 0.2 to 0.35 keV. The UV absorption lines have to be saturated if the X-ray absorber intersects the line of sight to the UV continuum emission region. A uniformly covering UV and X-ray absorption model can be constructed for PG 1411+442 but in some other soft X-ray detected BAL QSOs, such as PG 1001+054, the observed line optical depth is much lower than expected from the X-ray absorbing material. We propose a scheme in which a substantial fraction of the line of sight to the continuum source may be covered by either an optically thick flow or clouds in a narrow velocity range, but in which the total covering factor of either the whole flow or all clouds is close to unity., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, replacement of figure 1

Recently, convincing evidence was found for extremely large X-ray absorption by column densities $> 10^{23} cm^{-2}$ in broad absorption line quasars. One consequence of this is that any soft X-ray emission from these QSOs would be the scattered light or leaked light from partially covering absorbing material. A detection of the unabsorbed soft X-ray and absorbed hard X-ray compo nent will allow to determine the total column density as well as the effective covering factor of the absorbing material, which can be hardly obtained from the UV absorption lines. Brinkmann et al. (1999) showed that both the unabsorbed and absorbed components are detected in the nearby very bright broad absorption line quasar PG 1411+442. In this letter, we make a further analysis of the broad band X-ray spectrum and the UV spectrum from HST, and demonstrate that broad absorption lines are completely saturated at the bottom of absorption troughs., Comment: 6 pages, 3 postscript figures. to appear in Astrophy. J. Letters

We present a detailed analysis on the variability of the Fe K emission line in NGC 4051 using ASCA data. Through simple Gaussian line fits, we find not only obvious Fe K line variability with no significant difference in the X-ray continuum flux between two ASCA observations which were separated by $\sim$ 440 days, but also rapid variability of Fe K line on time scales $\sim 10^4$ s within the second observation. During the second observation, the line is strong (EW = 733$^{+206}_{-219}$ eV) and broad ($\sigma = 0.96^{+0.49}_{-0.35}$ keV) when the source is brightest, and become weaker (EW = 165$^{+87}_{-86}$ eV) and narrower ($\sigma<0.09$ keV) whilst the source is weakest. The equivalent width of Fe K line correlates positively with the continuum flux, which shows an opposite trend with another Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG --6-30-15., Comment: 12 pages with 5 figures, to appear in ApJ Vol. 516, L65

We present a detailed analysis of broad band X-ray data of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC5506. 2-10 keV band are detected during a 1-day ASCA observation, while no significant change in the 2-10 keV continuum shape is found. The ASCA spectrum consists of an absorbed power-law, a 'soft excess' below 2 keV, and an Fe K$\alpha$ emission line at 6.4 keV. The 'soft excess' can be well described by either thermal emission from very low abundance material at a temperature kT$\simeq$0.8 keV, or scattered/leaking flux from the primary power-law plus a small amount of thermal emission. Analysis of ROSAT HRI data reveals that the soft X-ray emission is extended on kpc scales in this object, and the extended component may account for most of the soft X-ray excess observed by the ASCA. The result suggests that in this type 2 AGN, the 'soft excess' at least partly comes from an extended region, imposing serious problem for the model in which the source is partially covered. Fe K$\alpha$ profile is complex and can not be satisfactorily modeled by a single gaussian. Models of either double gaussians, or a narrow gaussian plus a line from a relativistic accretion disk viewed at an inclination of about 40$\pm10^\circ$ provide good fits to the data. However, the inclination of the disk can be substantially larger if there is a small amount of excessive Fe K edge absorption. The intermediate inclinations for NLXGs are consistent with the ideas that the inner accretion disk is aligned with the outer obscuring torus., Comment: 8 pages, 5 postscript figures. to appear in Astrophy. J., 1999, April 20

We present here the analysis of ultraviolet spectra from IUE and an X-ray spectrum from ROSAT PSPC observations of the X-ray weak, far-infrared loud AGN, PG 1126-041 (Mrk 1298). The first UV spectra taken in June 1992, simultaneously with ROSAT, show strong absorption lines of NV, CIV and SiIV, extending over a velocity range from -1000 to -5000 km/s with respect to the corresponding line centre. Our analysis shows that the Broad Emission Line Region (BELR) is, at least partially, covered by the material causing these absorption lines. In the IUE spectrum taken in Jan. 1995, the continuum was a factor of two brighter and the UV absorption lines are found to be considerably weaker than in 1992, but only little variation in the emission line fluxes is found. With UV spectral indices of A_{uv} \simeq 1.82 and 1.46 for the 1992 and 1995 data, the far UV spectrum is steep. Based on the emission line ratios and the broad band spectral energy distribution, we argue that the steepness of the UV spectrum is unlikely to be due to reddening. The soft X-ray emission in the ROSAT band is weak. A simple power-law model yields a very poor fit with a UV-to-X-ray spectral index A_{uvx}=2.32. Highly ionized (warm) absorption is suggested by the ROSAT data. After correcting for a warm absorber, the optical to X-ray spectral slope is close to the average of A{uvx}\simeq 1.67 for radio quiet quasars., Comment: 8 pages, 9 postscript figures. Mon. Not. Roy. Astr. Soc., accepted