Dramatic X-ray variability in the narrow emission line galaxy NGC 7314.

Abstract

EXOSAT observations of the narrow emission line galaxy NGC 7314 have shown remarkable variability in the 2 - 10 keV band of the medium energy (ME) detectors. The most obvious feature in the ME light curve is a factor of 4 increase in the count rate over 5000 s, with some evidence for a softening of the spectrum as the source brightened. The lack of variations of similar strength in the 0.1 - 1.5 keV band of the low energy (LE) telescope suggests the existence of an additional spectral component which contributes significantly to the total LE flux.