179 research outputs found
Properties of AGN coronae in the NuSTAR era
The focussing optics of NuSTAR have enabled high signal-to-noise spectra to
be obtained from many X-ray bright Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and Galactic
Black Hole Binaries (BHB). Spectral modelling then allows robust
characterization of the spectral index and upper energy cutoff of the coronal
power-law continuum, after accounting for reflection and absorption effects.
Spectral-timing studies, such as reverberation and broad iron line fitting, of
these sources yield coronal sizes, often showing them to be small and in the
range of 3 to 10 gravitational radii in size. Our results indicate that coronae
are hot and radiatively compact, lying close to the boundary of the region in
the compactness - temperature diagram which is forbidden due to runaway pair
production. The coincidence suggests that pair production and annihilation are
essential ingredients in the coronae of AGN and BHB and that they control the
shape of the observed spectra.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
X-ray Lags in PDS 456 Revealed by Suzaku Observations
X-ray reverberation lags from the vicinity of supermassive black holes have
been detected in almost 30 AGN. The soft lag, which is the time delay between
the hard and soft X-ray light curves, is usually interpreted as the time
difference between the direct and reflected emission, but is alternatively
suggested to arise from the direct and scattering emission from distant clouds.
By analysing the archival Suzaku observations totalling an exposure time of ~
770 ks, we discover a soft lag of ks at Hz in
the luminous quasar PDS 456, which is the longest soft lag and lowest Fourier
frequency reported to date. In this study, we use the maximum likelihood method
to deal with non-continuous nature of the Suzaku light curves. The result
follows the mass-scaling relation for soft lags, which further supports that
soft lags originate from the innermost areas of AGN and hence are best
interpreted by the reflection scenario. Spectral analysis has been performed in
this work and we find no evidence of clumpy partial-covering absorbers. The
spectrum can be explained by a self-consistent relativistic reflection model
with warm absorbers, and spectral variations over epochs can be accounted for
by the change of the continuum, and of column density and ionization states of
the warm absorbers.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA
The Compton hump and variable blue wing in the extreme low-flux NuSTAR observations of 1H0707-495
The Narrow-line Seyfert I galaxy, 1H0707-495, has been well observed in the
0.3-10 keV band, revealing a dramatic drop in flux in the iron K alpha band, a
strong soft excess, and short timescale reverberation lags associated with
these spectral features. In this paper, we present the first results of a deep
250 ks NuSTAR observation of 1H0707-495, which includes the first sensitive
observations above 10 keV. Even though the NuSTAR observations caught the
source in an extreme low-flux state, the Compton hump is still significantly
detected. NuSTAR, with its high effective area above 7 keV, clearly detects the
drop in flux in the iron K alpha band, and by comparing these observations with
archival XMM-Newton observations, we find that the energy of this drop
increases with increasing flux. We discuss possible explanations for this, the
most likely of which is that the drop in flux is the blue wing of the
relativistically broadened iron K alpha emission line. When the flux is low,
the coronal source height is low, thus enhancing the most gravitationally
redshifted emission.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, comments are welcome. 9 pages, 5 figure
Observations of MCG-5-23-16 with Suzaku, XMM-Newton and NuSTAR: Disk tomography and Compton hump reverberation
MCG-5-23-16 is one of the first AGN where relativistic reverberation in the
iron K line originating in the vicinity of the supermassive black hole was
found, based on a short XMM-Newton observation. In this work, we present the
results from long X-ray observations using Suzaku, XMM-Newton and NuSTAR
designed to map the emission region using X-ray reverberation. A relativistic
iron line is detected in the lag spectra on three different time-scales,
allowing the emission from different regions around the black hole to be
separated. Using NuSTAR coverage of energies above 10 keV reveals a lag between
these energies and the primary continuum, which is detected for the first time
in an AGN. This lag is a result of the Compton reflection hump responding to
changes in the primary source in a manner similar to the response of the
relativistic iron K line.Comment: Accepted for Publication in Ap
The broad band spectral variability of MCG-6-30-15 observed by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton
MCG-6-30-15, at a distance of 37 Mpc (z=0.008), is the archetypical Seyfert 1
galaxy showing very broad Fe K emission. We present results from a
joint NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observational campaign that, for the first time,
allows a sensitive, time-resolved spectral analysis from 0.35 keV up to 80 keV.
The strong variability of the source is best explained in terms of intrinsic
X-ray flux variations and in the context of the light bending model: the
primary, variable emission is reprocessed by the accretion disk, which produces
secondary, less variable, reflected emission. The broad Fe K profile
is, as usual for this source, well explained by relativistic effects occurring
in the innermost regions of the accretion disk around a rapidly rotating black
hole. We also discuss the alternative model in which the broadening of the Fe
K is due to the complex nature of the circumnuclear absorbing
structure. Even if this model cannot be ruled out, it is disfavored on
statistical grounds. We also detected an occultation event likely caused by BLR
clouds crossing the line of sight.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication on Ap
Highly ionized disc and transient outflows in the Seyfert galaxy IRAS 18325-5926
We report on strong X-ray variability and the Fe K-band spectrum of the Seyfert galaxy IRAS 18325-5926 obtained from the 2001 XMM-Newton EPIC pn observation with a duration of ~120 ks. While the X-ray source is highly variable, the 8-10 keV band shows larger variability than that of the lower energies. Amplified 8-10 keV flux variations are associated with two prominent flares of the X-ray source during the observation. The Fe K emission is peaked at 6.6 keV with moderate broadening. It is likely to originate from a highly ionized disc with an ionization parameter of log ξ ≃ 3. The Fe K line flux responds to the main flare, which supports its disc origin. A short burst of the Fe line flux has no relation to the continuum brightness, for which we have no clear explanation. We also find transient, blueshifted Fe K absorption features that can be identified with high-velocity (~0.2c) outflows of highly ionized gas, as found in other active galaxies. The deepest absorption feature appears only briefly (~1 h) at the onset of the main flare and disappears when the flare declines. The rapid evolution of the absorption spectrum makes this source peculiar among the active galaxies with high-velocity outflows. Another detection of the absorption feature also precedes the other flare. The variability of the absorption feature partly accounts for the excess variability in the 8-10 keV band where the absorption feature appears. Although no reverberation measurement is available, the black hole mass of ~2 × 106M⊙ is inferred from the X-ray variability. When this mass is assumed, the black hole is accreting at around the Eddington limit, which may fit the highly ionized disc and strong outflows observed in this galaxy
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