The Seyfert-liner galaxy NGC 7213: An XMM-Newton observation

Abstract

We examine the XMM X-ray spectrum of the low-ionisation nuclear emission-line region (LINER)-AGN NGC 7213, which is best fit with a power law, Kα emission lines from Fe I, Fe xxv and Fe xxvi and a soft X-ray collisionally ionised thermal plasma with kT = 0.18 ^+0.03_−0.01 keV. We find a luminosity of 7 × 10⁻⁴ L_Edd, and a lack of soft X-ray excess emission, suggesting a truncated accretion disc. NGC 7213 has intermediate X-ray spectral properties, between those of the weak AGN found in the LINER M81 and higher luminosity Seyfert galaxies. This supports the notion of a continuous sequence of X-ray properties from the Galactic Centre through LINER galaxies to Seyferts, Likely determined by the amount of material available for accretion in the central regions.

This work is based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and the USA (NASA).