142 research outputs found
Using the X-ray Emission Lines of Seyfert 2 AGN to Measure Abundance Ratios
We measure the metal abundance ratios in the X-ray photoionized gas located
near the narrow line region of a sample of Seyfert 2 AGN. The high-resolution
X-ray spectra observed with the Chandra high- and low-energy transmission
grating spectrometers are compared with models of the resonant scattering and
recombination emission from a plasma in thermal balance, and with multiple
temperature zones. The abundance ratios in the sample are close to the Solar
values, with slight over-abundances of N in NGC 1068, and of Ne in NGC 4151.
Our X-ray spectral models use fewer degrees of freedom than previous works.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the proceedings of the conference
"Multiwavelenth AGN Surveys", held in Cozumel, Mexico, December 200
Atomic X-Ray Spectra of Accretion Disk Atmospheres in the Kerr Metric
We calculate the atmospheric structure of an accretion disk around a Kerr
black hole and obtain its X-ray spectrum, which exhibits prominent atomic
transitions under certain circumstances. The gravitational and Doppler
(red)shifts of the C V, C VI, O VII, O VIII, and Fe I-XXVI emission lines are
observable in active galaxies. We quantify the line emissivities as a function
of radius, to identify the effects of atmospheric structure, and to determine
the usefulness of these lines for probing the disk energetics. The line
emissivities do not always scale linearly with the incident radiative energy,
as in the case of Fe XXV and Fe XXVI. Our model incorporates photoionization
and thermal balance for the plasma, the hydrostatic approximation perpendicular
to the plane of the disk, and general relativistic tidal forces. We include
radiative recombination rates, fluorescence yields, Compton scattering, and
photoelectric opacities for the most abundant elements.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the Proc. of the 10th Marcel
Grossmann Meeting on General Relativity, World Scientific, Rio de Janeiro,
July 20-26, 200
Resonant Scattering and Recombination in CAL 87
The eclipsing supersoft X-ray binary CAL 87 has been observed with Chandra on
August 13/14, 2001 for nearly 100 ksec, covering two full orbital cycles and
three eclipses. The shape of the eclipse light curve derived from the
zeroth-order photons indicates that the size of the X-ray emission region is
about 1.5 solar radii. The ACIS/LETG spectrum is completely dominated by
emission lines without any noticeable continuum. The brightest emission lines
are significantly redshifted and double-peaked, suggestive of emanating in a
2000 km/s wind. We model the X-ray spectrum by a mixture of recombination and
resonant scattering. This allows us to deduce the temperature and luminosity of
the ionizing source to be kT = 50-100 eV and L_X = 5E37 erg/s.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of IAU Coll. 194 "Compact binaries in the
Galaxy and beyond" (Rev. Mex. A&A Conf. Series), eds. G. Tovmassian and E.
Sio
A strong emission line near 24.8 angstrom in the X-ray binary system MAXI J0556--332: gravitational redshift or unusual donor?
We report the discovery of a strong emission line near 24.8 angstrom (0.5
keV) in the newly discovered X-ray binary system MAXI J0556-332 with the
reflection grating spectrometer onboard the XMM-Newton observatory. The X-ray
light curve morphology during these observations is complex and shows
occasional dipping behavior. Here we present time- and rate-selected spectra
from the RGS and show that this strong emission line is unambiguously present
in all the XMM observations. The measured line center is consistent with the
Ly-alpha transition of N VII in the rest frame. While the spectra contain
imprints of absorption lines and edges, there appear to be no other
significantly prominent narrow line due to the source itself, thus making the
identification of the 24.8 angstrom line uncertain. We discuss possible
physical scenarios, including a gravitationally redshifted O VIII Ly-alpha line
originating at the surface of a neutron star or an unusual donor with an
extremely high N/O abundance (>57) relative to solar, that may have produced
this comparatively strong emission line.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Uses aastex.cls, 4 figures,
2 tables, 15 page
Dynamical Ne K Edge and Line Variations in the X-Ray Spectrum of the Ultra-compact Binary 4U 0614+091
We observed the ultra-compact binary candidate 4U 0614+091 for a total of 200
ksec with the high-energy transmission gratings onboard the \chandra X-ray
Observatory. The source is found at various intensity levels with spectral
variations present. X-ray luminosities vary between 2.0 \ergsec
and 3.5 \ergsec. Continuum variations are present at all times
and spectra can be well fit with a powerlaw component, a high kT blackbody
component, and a broad line component near oxygen. The spectra require
adjustments to the Ne K edge and in some occasions also to the Mg K edge. The
Ne K edge appears variable in terms of optical depths and morphology. The edge
reveals average blue- and red-shifted values implying Doppler velocities of the
order of 3500 \kms. The data show that Ne K exhibits excess column densities of
up to several 10 cm. The variability proves that the excess is
intrinsic to the source. The correponding disk velocities also imply an outer
disk radius of the order of cm consistent with an ultra-compact binary
nature. We also detect a prominent soft emission line complex near the \oviii
L position which appears extremely broad and relativistic effects from
near the innermost disk have to be included. Gravitationally broadened line
fits also provide nearly edge-on angles of inclination between 86 and
89. The emissions appear consistent with an ionized disk with
ionization parameters of the order of 10 at radii of a few 10 cm. The
line wavelengths with respect to \oviiia\ are found variably blue-shifted
indicating more complex inner disk dynamics.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, submitted to the Astrophyscial Main Journa
XMM-Newton EPIC & OM observations of Her X-1 over the 35 day beat period
We present the results of a series of XMM-Newton EPIC and OM observations of
Her X-1, spread over a wide range of the 35 day precession period. We confirm
that the spin modulation of the neutron star is weak or absent in the low state
- in marked contrast to the main or short-on states. During the states of
higher intensity, we observe a substructure in the broad soft X-ray modulation
below ~1keV, revealing the presence of separate peaks which reflect the
structure seen at higher energies. The strong fluorescence emission line at
~6.4keV is detected in all observations (apart from one taken in the middle of
eclipse), with higher line energy, width and normalisation during the main-on
state. In addition, we report the detection of a second line near 7keV in 10 of
the 15 observations taken during the low-intensity states of the system. This
feature is rather weak and not significantly detected during the main-on state,
when the strong continuum emission dominates the X-ray spectrum. Spin resolved
spectroscopy just after the rise to the main-on state shows that the variation
of the Fe Kalpha line at 6.4 keV is correlated with the soft X-ray emission.
This confirms our past finding based on the XMM-Newton observations made
further into the main-on state, and indicates the common origin for the thermal
component and the Fe Kalpha line detected at these phases. We also find that
the normalisation of the 6.4keV line during the low state is correlated with
the binary orbital phase, having a broad maximum centered near phi_(orbit) ~
0.5. We discuss these observations in the context of previous observations,
investigate the origin of the soft and hard X-rays and consider the emission
site of the 6.4keV and 7keV emission lines.Comment: 12 pages, accepted MNRA
Reprocessing of Soft X-ray Emission Lines in Black Hole Accretion Disks
By means of a Monte Carlo code that accounts for Compton scattering and
photoabsorption followed by recombination, we have investigated the radiation
transfer of Ly alpha, He alpha, and recombination continua photons of H- and
He-like C, N, O, and Ne produced in the photoionized atmosphere of a
relativistic black hole accretion disk. We find that photoelectric opacity
causes significant attenuation of photons with energies above the O VIII
K-edge; that the conversion efficiencies of these photons into lower-energy
lines and recombination continua are high; and that accounting for this
reprocessing significantly (by factors of 21% to 105%) increases the flux of
the Ly alpha and He alpha emission lines of H- and He-like C and O escaping the
disk atmosphere.Comment: 4 pages including 4 encapsulated postscript figures; LaTeX format,
uses aastex.cls and emulateapj5.sty; accepted on 2004 January 13 for
publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Neutral absorber dips in the periodic burster LMXB XB 1323-619 from Suzaku
We present results of an observation with Suzaku of the dipping, periodic
bursting low mass X-ray binary XB 1323-619. Using the energy band 0.8 - 70 keV,
we show that the source spectrum is well-described as the emission of an
extended accretion disk corona, plus a small contribution of blackbody emission
from the neutron star. The dip spectrum is well-fitted by the progressive
covering model in which the extended ADC is progressively overlapped by the
absorbing bulge of low ionization state in the outer accretion disk and that
dipping is basically due to photoelectric absorption in the bulge. An
energy-independent decrease of flux at high energies (20 - 70 keV) is shown to
be consistent with the level of Thomson scattering expected in the bulge. An
absorption feature at 6.67 keV (Fe XXV) is detected in the non-dip spectrum and
other possible weak features. In dipping, absorption lines of medium and highly
ionized states are seen suggestive of absorption in the ADC but there is no
evidence that the lines are stronger than in non-dip. We show that the
luminosity of the source has changed substantially since the Exosat observation
of 1985, increasing in luminosity between 1985 and 2003, then in 2003 - 2007
falling to the initial low value. X-ray bursting has again become periodic,
which it ceased to do in its highest luminosity state, and we find that the
X-ray bursts exhibit both the fast decay and later slow decay characteristic of
the rp burning process. We present arguments against the recent proposal that
the decrease of continuum flux in the dipping LMXB in general can be explained
as absorption in an ionized absorber rather than in the bulge in the outer disk
generally accepted to be the site of absorption.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, Astronomy and Astrophysics in pres
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