ASCAObservations of Type 2 Seyfert Galaxies. II. The Importance of X‐Ray Scattering and Reflection

We discuss the importance of X-ray scattering and Compton reflection intype-2 Seyfert galaxies, based upon the analysis of ASCA observations of 25such sources. Consideration of the iron Kalpha, [O III] line and X-rayvariability suggest that NGC 1068, NGC 4945, NGC 2992, Mrk 3, Mrk 463E and Mrk273 are dominated by reprocessed X-rays. We examine the properties of thesesources in more detail. We find that the iron Kalpha complex contains significant contributions fromneutral and high-ionization species of iron. Compton reflection, hot gas andstarburst emission all appear to make significant contributions to the observedX-ray spectra. Mrk 3 is the only source in this subsample which does not have a significantstarburst contamination. The ASCA spectrum below 3 keV is dominated by hotscattering gas with U_X ~ 5, N_H ~ 4 x 10^23 cm^-2. This material is morehighly ionized than the zone of material comprising the warm absorber seen inSeyfert~1 galaxies, but may contain a contribution from shock-heated gasassociated with the jet. Estimates of the X-ray scattering fraction cover 0.25- 5%. The spectrum above 3 keV appears to be dominated by a Compton reflectioncomponent although there is evidence that the primary continuum componentbecomes visible close to 10 keV.