The geometry of the hot corona in MCG-05-23-16 constrained by X-ray polarimetry

0581656 - ASÚ 2024 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Tagliacozzo, D. - Marinucci, A. - Ursini, F. - Dovčiak, Michal - Karas, Vladimír - Podgorný, Jakub … Total 108 authors
The geometry of the hot corona in MCG-05-23-16 constrained by X-ray polarimetry.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Roč. 525, č. 3 (2023), s. 4735-4743. ISSN 0035-8711. E-ISSN 1365-2966
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GX21-06825X
Institutional support: RVO:67985815
Keywords : polarization * active galaxies * high energy astrophysical phenomena
OECD category: Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science)
Impact factor: 4.8, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad2627

We report on the second observation of the radio-quiet active galactic nucleus MCG-05-23-16 performed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). The observation started on 2022 November 6 for a net observing time of 640 ks, and was partly simultaneous with NuSTAR (86 ks). After combining these data with those obtained in the first IXPE pointing on 2022 May (simultaneous with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR) we find a 2-8 keV polarization degree Π = 1.6 ± 0.7 (at 68 per cent confidence level), which corresponds to an upper limit Π = 3.2 per cent (at 99 per cent confidence level). We then compare the polarization results with Monte Carlo simulations obtained with the MONK code, with which different coronal geometries have been explored (spherical lamppost, conical, slab, and wedge). Furthermore, the allowed range of inclination angles is found for each geometry. If the best-fitting inclination value from a spectroscopic analysis is considered, a cone-shaped corona along the disc axis is disfavoured.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0349762