A Search for X-ray/UV Correlation in the Reflection-Dominated Seyfert 1 Galaxy Mrk 1044
Abstract
Correlated variability between coronal X-rays and disc optical/UV photons provides a very useful diagnostic of the interplay between the different regions around an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and how they interact. AGN that reveal strong X-ray reflection in their spectra should normally exhibit optical/UV to X-ray correlation consistent with reprocessing -- where the optical/UV emission lag behind the X-rays. While such correlated delay has been seen in some sources, it has been absent in others. Mrk~1044 is one such source that has been known to reveal strong X-ray reflection in its spectra. In our analysis of three long XMM-Newton and several Swift observations of the source, we found no strong evidence for correlation between its UV and X-ray lightcurves both on short and long time scales. Among other plausible causes for the non-detection, we posit that higher X-ray variability than UV and strong general relativistic effects close to the black hole may also be responsible. We also present results from the spectral analysis based on XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations, which show the strong soft X-ray excess and iron Kα line in the 0.3--50 keV spectrum that can be described by relativistic reflection.
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