Research area

Highly Ionized X-Ray-Emitting Gas in Active Galaxies

Using Chandra imaging spectroscopy and physical modeling to determine what powers spatially extended X-ray emission around active nuclei.

Side-by-side Chandra and Hubble observational composites of the luminous Type 2 quasars FIRST J120041.4+314745 and 2MASX J13003807+5454367. — **Observational composite**X-ray: NASA/CXC; optical: NASA/ESA/HST; image processing and composition: Anna Trindade Falcão

Observational approach

How I investigate this question

I combine spatially resolved Chandra imaging spectroscopy with Hubble optical imaging and broadband X-ray constraints from XMM-Newton and NuSTAR to measure morphology, spectrum, ionization state, and spatial extent while accounting for unresolved nuclear emission.

Observatories

ChandraHubbleXMM-NewtonNuSTAR

Physical interpretation

What the observations allow us to test

Line-emitting X-ray gas is not assumed to be thermally hot: photoionized and collisionally ionized models are tested against the resolved spectral and morphological evidence.

Scientific questions

Questions guiding this work

What powers spatially extended soft X-ray emission around an active nucleus?

How can photoionized plasma be distinguished from collisionally ionized gas and unresolved nuclear emission?

What do the morphology, spectrum, and spatial scale of the X-ray-emitting phase reveal about AGN outflows?

Selected work

Publications and research highlights

publicationHot, Photoionized X-Ray Gas in Two Luminous Type 2 Quasars: Chandra-HST Evidence for a Wind-driven SequenceView publication publicationDeep Chandra Observations of NGC 5728 · Paper IIIView publication publicationDeep Chandra Observations of NGC 5728 · Paper IView publication publicationThe Weak Active Nucleus and Extended X-Ray Emission of NGC 5005View publication publicationDeep Chandra Observations of NGC 5728 · Paper IIView publication