BeppoSAX observations of the quasar Markarian 205

¹ INTEGRAL Science Data Centre, 16 Ch. d'Ecogia, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
² Observatoire de Genève, 51 Ch. des Maillettes, 1290 Sauverny, Switzerland
³ Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, BP 43, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
⁴ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 661, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
⁵ Joint Center for Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA

Corresponding author: P. Favre, pascal.favre@obs.unige.ch

Received: 24 October 2003
Accepted: 4 March 2004

Abstract

We present the first BeppoSAX observation (0.1 to 220 keV) of the quasar Mrk 205. We have searched for the unusual Fe line profile observed in the XMM-Newton spectrum which has been widely discussed in the recent literature. We find no evidence for a broad, ionized Fe line component in our data. We detect for the first time a Compton hump in this object. When this component is included in the fit, the line strength diminishes, in agreement with a recent re-analysis of the XMM-Newton data, but with better constraints on the reflection component thanks to the PDS instrument (15-220 keV). We interpret this fact as another indication for illumination of distant, cold material rather than reprocessing in the highly ionized inner part of an accretion disk. We cannot constrain the presence of a high energy cutoff but we confirm the existence of a variable soft excess (one year time scale).