An X-ray timing and spectral analysis of the AGN NGC 4051

NGC 4051 is a narrow line Seyfert galaxy 1 (NLS1), and it is one of the brightest Active Galactic Nuclei in the X-ray band. We analysed the power density and energy spectra of NGC 4051 using all available data obtained with NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer from 1996 to 2011. We divided the data into several time intervals to study possible changes of the spectral and timing properties of the source. All power spectra show a power-law component, but in one of the time intervals a broad, Loretntzian-like, component at ~0.2 Hz is also required to fit the data. The energy spectra are all well fitted with a reflection component. During a period of 26 months, from 2009 to 2011, NGC 4051 showed significant flaring activity in the hard X-ray band. We analysed the data during that period separately. We discuss the results of the timing and spectral fits in the different intervals, and compare our findings with those previously published using only a fraction of the data.