# ABSTRACT

## ABSTRACT

The broad band 0.1-200 keV spectra of a sample of 5 Seyfert 2 galaxies (NGC 7172, Mkn 3, NGC 2110, NGC 4507 and NGC 7674) have been measured within the first year of the $`BeppoSAX`$ Core program. All sources have been detected up to $``$ 100 keV and their spectral characteristics derived with good accuracy. Although the results obtained from the detailed analysis of individual sources indicate some “source-by-source” differences, we show in the following that all spectra are consistent, at least qualitatively, with what expected from a “0<sup>th</sup>-order” version of unified models. Indeed, a simple test on these data indicates that these Seyfert 2 galaxies are on average intrinsically very similar to Seyfert 1 galaxies (i.e., steep at E$`>`$ 10 keV) and that the main difference can be ascribed to a different amount of absorbing matter along the line of sight (i.e. different inclinations of our line of sight with respect to a putative molecular torus or different thicknesses of the tori).

## 1 PREDICTIONS FROM UNIFIED MODELS

The discovery of broad emission lines in the polarized optical spectra of several Seyfert 2 galaxies (Antonucci & Miller 1985, Tran et al. 1992) has provided the basis for a unified model of Seyfert galaxies in which the main discriminating parameter between Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 nuclei is the inclination with respect to our line of sight of a supposed obscuring torus surrounding the central source (see Antonucci 1993 for a review). In this scheme, Seyfert 1 galaxies are active nuclei observed nearly perpendicularly to the torus plane (unabsorbed) whereas Seyfert 2 galaxies represent those seen through the torus (absorbed) and, of course, the main prediction is that Seyfert 2 galaxies are intrinsically similar to Seyfert 1 galaxies, once the effects of the torus are properly accounted for.

It is now widely recognized that the intrinsic high energy spectrum of Seyfert 1 galaxies consists, on average, of a steep power-law continuum ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ $``$ 1.9–2.0, Nandra & Pounds 1994) with an exponential cut-off typically at energies larger than 150 keV (Zdziarski et al. 1996, Perola et al. 1998). Therefore, one would expect that Seyfert 2 galaxies exhibit similar high-energy properties. X-ray observations (mainly below $``$ 20 keV) of Seyfert 2 galaxies, have shown a variety of spectral characteristics not always consistent with a “0<sup>th</sup>-order” version of unified models (Smith & Done 1996, Cappi et al. 1996, Turner et al. 1998). However, at high energies where the effects of absorption and matter reprocessing are less evident, measurements are sparse for Seyfert 2 galaxies (but see Johnson et al. 1997). It has been therefore difficult to assess the Seyfert 1 nature of the primary spectrum of Seyfert 2 galaxies from these observations.

Based on these general considerations, we have undertaken a program of observations with $`BeppoSAX`$, aimed at studying the X-ray spectral properties of bright Seyfert 2 galaxies over a broad energy band (up to about 200 keV) and at testing the validity of unified models. As a matter of fact, $`BeppoSAX`$ can provide crucial information on the intrinsic source properties because high energy photons from a few to several keV can pass through the circumnuclear intervening material and can therefore be compared to the “typical” spectrum of Seyfert 1 galaxies. So far 5 objects have been observed within the first AO cycle, namely NGC 7674 (Malaguti et al. 1998a), Mkn 3 (Cappi et al.1998), NGC 2110 (Malaguti et al. 1998b), NGC 7172 and NGC 4507 (see also Bassani et al. 1998).

## 2 A SIMPLIFIED QUALITATIVE TEST

A simple, qualitative, test has been performed on our sources by fitting each source of the sample with the same model: a soft power-law component plus a hard, absorbed, power-law component with reflection and associated Fe K line as illustrated in Fig. 1. In the framework of unified models, the soft power-law is attributed to scattered soft X-ray emission from ionized material placed above the molecular torus, while the hard X-ray and reflection components are interpreted as the direct component absorbed by the torus and its reflection from the inner side of the torus, respectively. The intensity of the soft, scattered, component was assumed to be $``$ 2% that of the direct one. The intensity of the reflection component was fixed to R = 1 (conrresponding to a 2$`\pi `$ coverage as viewed from the X-ray source), and the iron line was assumed to be produced through both the reflection and absorption with an equivalent width of $``$ 1 keV (with respect to the reflected continuum) and $``$ 500 $`\times `$ $`\frac{N_\mathrm{H}}{1.23\times 10^{24}}`$ eV (with respect to the direct, absorbed, component), as expected from theoretical models (George & Fabian 1991, Leahy & Creighton 1993). The only free parameters were the intensity and photon index of the direct continuum and the absorption column along the line of sight.

The fit results and unfolded spectra obtained from this test are given in Figure 2. The most interesting result is that all sources are well described by a steep, Seyfert 1-like spectrum, with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ $``$ 1.79–1.95. This is a newly discovered behaviour of Seyfert 2 galaxies for energies up to $``$ 100 keV which supports unified models. It is stressed that this result is largely independent on the presence of the steep soft component and on the assumed intensity of the reflection component. This is demonstrated by the fact that the average Seyfert 2 spectrum obtained averaging all the PDS 20-200 keV data (except NGC 7674) can be well fitted ($`\chi ^2`$ $``$ 1.2) by a single power-law model with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{20200keV}`$ = 1.85 $`\pm `$ 0.05 and shows no deviation from the power-law up to $``$ 150 keV. The observed major differences in the quality of fits ($`\chi _{red}^2`$ ranging from 0.9–1.8) are to be ascribed to two main factors. The first is source by source differences in the Fe K complex which indicates the need of a more dedicated analysis. The second depends upon the different amount of absorbing matter along the line of sight. The less absorbed source is NGC 2110 which also shows less indication for a reflection component and the most absorbed one is NGC 7674, where only the reflection component is observed possibly because the direct component is completely blocked by a Compton thick molecular torus (with $`N_\mathrm{H}>10^{25}`$ cm<sup>-2</sup>, Malaguti et al. 1998a). Intermediate cases are NGC 7172, NGC 4507 and Mkn 3; in the latter, both the direct and reflected components are clearly resolved spectroscopically. Moreover although a detailed measurement in individual sources of the high-energy cutoff is difficult, it appears clear in the data (see Figure 2) that there is no evidence of such a cutoff for energies up to at least $``$ 100–150 keV.

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