The rise and decline of a transient obscuration event in a moderately distant type-I quasar

Abstract

Outflows of ionised material, often dubbed warm absorbers (WAs), are common in nearby Seyferts but sparse in distant and more energetic quasars (QSOs). We present multi-epoch X-ray and optical observations of the serendipitously identified type-I QSO 2MASS J14302580+4159572 at a redshift of $z=0.35$, revealing the rare rise and decline of a transient ionised absorber over a 22-year timescale. The discovery observations were obtained with XMM-Newton between 2002 and 2005. The first two observations show unremarkable X-ray spectra typical of unobscured type-I QSOs, whereas the 2005 observation reveals a pronounced suppression of the spectrum below $\sim3\,\mathrm{keV}$. Spectral analysis shows that this event is produced by a moderately ionised absorber with column density $N_{\rm H}\simeq5\times10^{22}\,\mathrm{cm^{-2}}$ and ionisation parameter $\logξ\simeq1.4$. Joint analysis of XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, and Swift/XRT observations spanning 22 years indicates that the absorber remained stable for nearly 18 years before weakening in the 2023--2024 Swift/XRT data. Throughout this period, the intrinsic 3--10 keV continuum remained remarkably stable, indicating that the observed variability is driven by changes in line-of-sight ionised absorption rather than intrinsic luminosity fluctuations. We interpret the event as a thermally driven ionised outflow located outside the broad-line region (BLR), at sub-parsec to parsec scales, with a density of order $10^{6}\,\mathrm{cm^{-3}}$. Supporting this scenario, the high-ionisation [O\,III] $\lambda4363$ emission line varies in tandem with the X-ray absorption, suggesting that the outflow progressively modifies the ionisation state of the inner narrow-line region (NLR) on decadal timescales. These observations provide a rare view of the long-term evolution of a quasar warm absorber and its impact on the circumnuclear environment.