A&A 514, A58 (2010) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/200912431 & c ESO 2010 Astrophysics The Suzaku broadband X-ray spectrum of the dwarf Seyfert galaxy NGC 4395 K. Iwasawa1,, Y. Tanaka2, and L. C. Gallo3 1 INAF-Ossservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna, Italy e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstraße 1, 85748 Garching, Germany e-mail:
[email protected] 3 Department of Astronomy and Physics, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3, Canada e-mail:
[email protected] Received 6 May 2009 / Accepted 21 December 2009 ABSTRACT 5 We present a Suzaku observation of the dwarf Seyfert galaxy NGC 4395 with an estimated black hole mass of ∼10 M. Rapid and strong X-ray variability with an rms amplitude of ∼60 per cent is observed in the 0.4–10 keV band with the XIS cameras. The shape of the light curve appears to depend on energies. The hard X-ray emission is detected up to 35 keV with the HXD-PIN detector at a similar flux level as observed with the INTEGRAL IBIS. The X-ray spectrum below 10 keV is strongly absorbed by partially ionized (ξ ∼ 35 erg s cm−1) gas with a mean equivalent hydrogen column density of ∼2 × 1022 cm−2, when a simple absorption model is applied. The spectral shape is also strongly variable but not a simple function of the source brightness. The spectral variability appears to be accounted for mainly by continuum slope changes, but variability in the ionized absorber may also play some part.