A longer XMM–Newton look at I Zwicky 1: physical conditions and variability of the ionized absorbers

We present a spectral analysis of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy I Zwicky 1, focusing on the characteristics of the ionized absorbers as observed with XMM–Newton in 2005. The soft X-ray spectrum shows absorption by two components of ionized gas with a similar column density (NH∼ 1021 cm−2) and ionization parameters log ξ∼ 0 and 2.5. Comparing this observation with a 2002 XMM–Newton data set, we see a clear anticorrelation between the X-ray ionization parameter ξX and the 0.1–10 keV luminosity. Viable explanations for this effect include transient clouds or filaments crossing the line of sight in a complex geometry or a gas observed in non-equilibrium. The outflow velocity of the X-ray low-ionization absorber is consistent with the outflow of the ultraviolet (UV) absorber detected in a past Hubble Space Telescope observation. In addition, the ionic column densities of C iv and N v derived from the X-ray model are consistent with the UV values. This suggests that the low-ionization outflowing gas may survive for many years, despite large changes in flux, and that there is a tight connection between the X-ray and UV absorbers that can only be confirmed with a simultaneous UV and X-ray observation.