* Astronomy

Title: XMM Observations of Seyfert 2 Galaxies NGC 7590: the Nature of X-ray Absorption
Authors: X. W. Shu (USTC), T. Liu (USTC), J. X. Wang (USTC)

We present the analysis of three XMM observations of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 7590. The source was found to have no X-ray absorption in the low spatial resolution ASCA data. The XMM observations provide a factor of 10 better spatial resolution than previous ASCA data. We find that the X-ray emission of NGC 7590 is dominated by an off-nuclear ULX and extended emission from the host galaxy. The nuclear X-ray emission is rather weak comparing with the host galaxy. Based on its very low X-ray luminosity as well as the small ratio between the 2-10 keV and the [O III] fluxes, we interpret NGC 7590 as Compton-thick rather than being an "unobscured" Seyfert 2 galaxy. Future higher resolution observations such as Chandra are crucial to shed light on the nature of NGC 7590 nucleus.

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