The innermost regions of active galactic nuclei: The case of Mrk 335


Luigi Gallo


Saint-Mary's University



The X-ray emission from active galactic nuclei (AGN) originates very close to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the host galaxy. The emission varies rapidly on timescales of hours and the spectrum reveals signatures of the extreme environment close to the black hole. In 2007, one of the X-ray brightest AGN, Markarian 335 (Mrk 335), dimmed to one-twentieth its average brightness and has still not fully recovered. Possible explanations for its wane in X-rays include variable obscuration, changes in the accretion mode, or changes in the nature of the primary X-ray emitter called the corona. In this talk, I will describe the X-ray properties of AGN in general, and discuss the behavior of Mrk 335 in detail. I will be drawing from eleven years of monitoring and pointed observations of Mrk 335 with Swift, XMM-Newton, Suzaku, and NuSTAR.

Date: Jeudi, le 5 avril 2018
Heure: 11:30
Lieu: Université de Montréal
  Pavillon Roger-Gaudry, Local D-460
Contact: Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo