Discovery of a deep Seyfert-2 galaxy at z = 0.222 behind NGC 300
  We report on the unveiling of the nature of the unidentified X-ray source
3XMM J005450.3-373849 as a Seyfert-2 galaxy located behind the spiral galaxy
NGC 300 using Hubble Space Telescope data, new spectroscopic Gemini
observations and available XMM-Newton and Chandra data. We show that the X-ray
source is positionally coincident with an extended optical source, composed by
a marginally resolved nucleus/bulge, surrounded by an elliptical disc-like
feature and two symmetrical outer rings. The optical spectrum is typical of a
Seyfert-2 galaxy redshifted to z=0.222 +/- 0.001, which confirms that the
source is not physically related to NGC 300. At this redshift the source would
be located at 909+/-4 Mpc (comoving distance in the standard model). The X-ray
spectra of the source are well-fitted by an absorbed power-law model. By tying
$N_\mathrm{H}$ between the six available spectra, we found a variable index
$\Gamma$ running from ~2 in 2000-2001 years, to 1.4-1.6 in the 2005-2014
period. Alternatively, by tying $\Gamma$, we found variable absorption columns
of N_H ~ 0.34 x $10^{-22}$ cm$^{-2}$ in 2000-2001 years, and 0.54-0.75 x
$10^{-22}$ cm$^{-2}$ in the 2005-2014 period. Although we cannot distinguish
between an spectral or absorption origin, from the derived unabsorbed X-ray
fluxes, we are able to assure the presence of long-term X-ray variability.
Furthermore, the unabsorbed X-ray luminosities of 0.8-2 x 10$^{43}$ erg
s$^{-1}$ derived in the X-ray band are in agreement with a weakly obscured
Seyfert-2 AGN at $z \approx 0.22$.
