13512( 5) - 08-Oct-2014 10:57:52 - [ 1] HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVING PROGRAM 13512 Version: 5 Check-in Time: 08-Oct-2014 10:57:52 STScI Edit Number: 2 Title The curious case of Mrk~590 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Type Cycle GO 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Investigators Contact? PI: Dr. Smita Mathur The Ohio State University Y CoI: Dr. Anjali Gupta The Ohio State University N CoI: Dr. Yair Krongold Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico N (UNAM) CoI: Dr. Gisella De Rosa The Ohio State University N CoI: Prof. Bradley M Peterson The Ohio State University N CoI: Dr. Richard W. Pogge The Ohio State University N ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Abstract Mrk 590 is presently in an unusual state. Its soft-excess has disappeared, its broad emission lines have disappeared, and it shows the presence of a relativistic outflow. All these observations could be related to each other and perhaps the underlying cause is a low accretion rate relative to Eddington. Our proposed observations with Chandra and HST will not only help to understand the curious case of Mrk 590, but also to answer some long-standing questions in AGN physics: What is the origin of the soft-excess?; What is the origin of the broad emission line region?; What is the launching mechanism of outflows? Mrk 590 provides us with an unique opportunity to find the underlying physics related to these apparently disparate phenomena. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Observations Description ------------------------ We have been awarded two HST orbits to observe Mrk 590 with COS. The target has been in an unusually low state lately. We recently observed the CIV region of the Mrk 590 spectrum with COS G140L using DD time during Period 20 (2013 June 17; PID 13185), i.e., the same setup as our original plan for observations for PID 13512. With this observation, we were able to compare the current UV spectrum to past IUE SWP observations and found a drastic change in the CIV and Lya emission line properties since the 1990's. This is consistent with the changes we've observed in the optical and Xray spectrum. While the optical emission line changes have been drastic over the past few decades, there has been little change in the past year. Therefore, it is a much stronger science case to go after another emission line region (MgII) with our present allocation of two orbits than to re-observe the CIV region, where likely little change will be observed over the short time period between our planned observation and the 2013 June observation. MgII is the only other prominent emission line in AGN spectra that we have yet to observe in the current, low state of Mrk 590. The MgII region is additionally interesting because not only do IUE LWP data exist from 1982 and 1991 that cover this region and make possible a comparison of the MgII profile when Mrk 590 was in its previous high state, but a recent publication by Roig et al. (2014, ApJ, 781, 72) finds an 13512( 5) - 08-Oct-2014 10:57:52 - [ 2] interesting sample of objects from the SDSS that shows no broad emission component of the Hbeta emission line, but a remaining broad component of MgII. If Mrk 590 shows similar spectral properties, it could shed light on this new "class" of objects discussed by Roig et al. With the G230L/cenwave=2950 setting we are able to cover adequately the MgII line region. We are choosing the low resolution grating over the medium resolution gratings to maximize the S/N of the observation, which is the major concern given the low flux of the target (f_lambda~ 2.5e-16 cgs at 1850A). Moreover, the setup is partially overlapping with the 2013 DDT observation, so while we will not observe the CIV or Lya emission lines again, we will be able to look for any changes in the underlying continuum luminosity, which will still allow a constraint on the change over the past year. We base our ETC calculations on the COS DDT observations from June 2013, where we detected a continuum flux of f_lambda~2.5e-16 erg s-1 cm-2 Ang-1 @ 1850 Ang. After performing NUV acquisition with MIRRORA (ACQ/IMAGE), we fill the orbits with 4 exposures G230L/cenwave=2950 (one for each FP-POS), getting an overall continuum S/N~5.5 per resel @ 1850 Ang. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13512( 5) - 08-Oct-2014 10:57:52 - [ 3] TARGET LIST Fixed Targets ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tar| Target | Target | Target |Coord | Radial | Flux data No | Name | Description | Position |Eqnx | Vel. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 NGC-863 GALAXY, SEYFERT RA=02H14M33.5790S +/- 0.1", J2000 Z = V = 13.81 DEC=-00D46'0.28" +/- 0.1" 0.026 Reference Frame: ICRS Comments: This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13512( 5) - 08-Oct-2014 10:57:52 - [ 4] Visit: 01 Visit Requirements: On Hold Comments: Additional Comments: The HST and Chandra observations should be performed within 10 days of each other. Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Exp | Target | Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Central| Optional |Num| Time | Special Num | Name | Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Waveln.| Parameters |Exp| (Total) | Requirements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 NGC-863 COS/NUV ACQ/IMA PSA MIRRORA 1 30 S (30 GS ACQ SCENARIO BASE1B3 GE S) Comments: In a recent HST observation with COS G140L the flux was observed to be 2.5e-16 at 1850 Ang. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 NGC-863 COS/NUV TIME-TA PSA G230L 2950 BUFFER-TIME=1139, FP-POS=1 1 1249 S G (1249 S) Comments: In a recent HST observation with COS G140L the flux was observed to be 2.5e-16 at 1850 Ang. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 NGC-863 COS/NUV TIME-TA PSA G230L 2950 BUFFER-TIME=1140, FP-POS=2 1 1250 S G (1250 S) Comments: In a recent HST observation with COS G140L the flux was observed to be 2.5e-16 at 1850 Ang. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 NGC-863 COS/NUV TIME-TA PSA G230L 2950 BUFFER-TIME=1340, FP-POS=3 1 1450 S G (1450 S) Comments: In a recent HST observation with COS G140L the flux was observed to be 2.5e-16 at 1850 Ang. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 NGC-863 COS/NUV TIME-TA PSA G230L 2950 BUFFER-TIME=1345, FP-POS=4 1 1455 S G (1455 S) Comments: In a recent HST observation with COS G140L the flux was observed to be 2.5e-16 at 1850 Ang. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sub Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target | Exp |Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Cent.|Primary |Secondary |Iteration |CR-SPLIT |Orbit |Duration Name | Num |Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Wave.|Pattern Pos |Pattern Pos |Num |Num |Number | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NGC-863 1 COS/NUV ACQ/IMA PSA MIRRORA none none none none 1 N/A GE NGC-863 2 COS/NUV TIME-TA PSA G230L 2950 none none none none 1 N/A G NGC-863 3 COS/NUV TIME-TA PSA G230L 2950 none none none none 1 N/A G 13512( 5) - 08-Oct-2014 10:57:52 - [ 5] Sub Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target | Exp |Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Cent.|Primary |Secondary |Iteration |CR-SPLIT |Orbit |Duration Name | Num |Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Wave.|Pattern Pos |Pattern Pos |Num |Num |Number | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NGC-863 4 COS/NUV TIME-TA PSA G230L 2950 none none none none 2 N/A G NGC-863 5 COS/NUV TIME-TA PSA G230L 2950 none none none none 2 N/A G 13512( 5) - 08-Oct-2014 10:57:52 - [ 6] Summary Form for Proposal 13512 Item Used in this proposal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Apertures PSA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Configurations COS/NUV ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Opmodes ACQ/IMAGE, TIME-TAG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Optional Parameters BUFFER-TIME=1139, BUFFER-TIME=1140, BUFFER-TIME=1340, BUFFER-TIME=1345, FP-POS=1, FP-POS=2, FP-POS=3, FP-POS=4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Special Requirements GS ACQ SCENARIO BASE1B3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spectral Elements G230L, MIRRORA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target Names NGC-863 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------