XMM-NEWTON OBSERVATIONS OF THE SEYFERT 2 GALAXY NGC 7590: THE NATURE OF X-RAY ABSORPTION

We present the analysis of three XMM-Newton observations of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 7590. The source was found to have no X-ray absorption in the low spatial resolution ASCA data. The XMM-Newton observations provide a factor of similar to 10 better spatial resolution than previous ASCA data. We find that the X-ray emission of NGC 7590 is dominated by an off-nuclear ultra-luminous X-ray source and an extended emission from the host galaxy. The nuclear X-ray emission is rather weak compared with the host galaxy. Based on its very low X-ray luminosity as well as the small ratio between the 2-10 keV and the [OIII] fluxes, we interpret NGC 7590 as Compton-thick rather than being an unobscured Seyfert 2 galaxy. Future higher resolution observations such as Chandra are crucial to shed light on the nature of the NGC 7590 nucleus.