Rs. Warwick et al., X-RAY-PROPERTIES OF ACTIVE GALAXIES WITH HIGH INTRINSIC ABSORPTION, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 265(2), 1993, pp. 412-420
We present the results of Ginga observations of three narrow emission
line X-ray galaxies, NGC 7172, NGC 7582 and ESO 103-G35. In each of th
ese galaxies the column density along the line of sight to the active
nucleus is extremely high (i.e. n(H) greater-than-or-similar-to 10(23)
cm-2). A comparison of the optical depth in the iron K-edge with the
low-energy absorption in the X-ray spectrum indicates an apparent iron
abundance in excess of the solar value in these sources. Measurements
of the iron K-edge energy show that the bulk of the X-ray-absorbing g
as is not strongly photoionized, with only ESO 103-G35 exhibiting an e
dge energy significantly above that for neutral iron. In the case of N
GC7582, the line-of-sight column density may have increased by a facto
r of approximately 3 over an interval of about 4 yr. The implications
of these results for current models of the state and distribution of g
aseous material in low-luminosity active galactic nuclei are briefly d
iscussed.