Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userA long hard look at MCG-6-30-15 with XMM-Newton
111
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
We present first results from a 325 ks observation of the Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG-6-30-15 with XMM-Newton and BeppoSAX. The strong, broad, skewed iron line is clearly detected and is well characterised by a steep emissivity profile within 6r_g (i.e. 6GM/c^2) and a flatter profile beyond. The inner radius of the emission appears to lie at about 2r_g, consistent with results reported from both an earlier XMM-Newton observation of MCG-6-30-15 by Wilms et al. and part of an ASCA observation by Iwasawa et al. when the source was in a lower flux state. The radius and steep emissivity profile do depend however on an assumed incident power-law continuum and a lack of complex absorption above 2.5 keV. The blue wing of the line profile is indented, either by absorption at about 6.7 keV or by a hydrogenic iron emission line. The broad iron line flux does not follow the continuum variations in a simple manner.
rate research
Read More
We summarise the primary results from a 320 ks observation of the bright Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG-6-30-15 with XMM-Newton and Beppo-SAX.
The bright Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG-6-30-15 has provided some of the best evidence to date for the existence of supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei. Observations with ASCA revealed an X-ray iron line profile shaped by strong Doppler and gravitational effects. In this paper the shape of the iron line, its variability characteristics and the robustness of this spectral interpretation are examined using the long XMM-Newton observation taken in 2001. A variety of spectral models, both including and excluding the effects of strong gravity, are compared to the data in a uniform fashion. The results strongly favour models in which the spectrum is shaped by emission from a relativistic accretion disc. It is far more difficult to explain the 3-10 keV spectrum using models dominated by absorption (either by warm or partially covering cold matter), emission line blends, curved continua or additional continuum components. These provide a substantially worse fit to the data and fail to explain other observations (such as the simultaneous BeppoSAX spectrum). This reaffirms the veracity of the relativistic `disc line interpretation. The short term variability in the shape of the energy spectrum is investigated and explained in terms of a two-component emission model. Using a combination of spectral variability analyses the spectrum is successfully decomposed into a variable power-law component (PLC) and a reflection dominated component (RDC). The former is highly variable while the latter is approximately constant throughout the observation, leading to the well-known spectral variability patterns. (Abridged)
We study the Frequency Resolved Spectra of the Seyfert galaxy MCG -6-30-15 obtained during two recent XMM-Newton observations. Splitting the Fourier spectra in soft (<2 keV) and hard (>2 keV) bands, we find that the soft band has a variability amplitude larger than the hard one on time scales longer than 10 ksec, while the opposite is true on time scales shorter than 3 ksec. Both the soft and hard band spectra are well fitted by power laws of different indices. The spectra of the hard band become clearly softer as the Fourier Frequency decreases from 7x10^{-4} Hz to 10^{-5} Hz, while the spectral slope of the soft band power law component is independent of the Fourier frequency. The well known broad Fe Ka feature is absent at all frequency bins; this result implies that this feature is not variable on time scales shorter than ~10^5 sec, in agreement with recent line variability studies. Strong spectral features are also present in the soft X-ray band (at E~0.7), clearly discernible in all Fourier Frequency bins. This fact is consistent with the assumption that they are due to absorption by intervening matter within the source.
MCG-6-30-15, at a distance of 37 Mpc (z=0.008), is the archetypical Seyfert 1 galaxy showing very broad Fe K$alpha$ 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$alpha$ 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$alpha$ 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.
XMM-Newton successfully detected the minimum state of PG 2112+059 during a short snapshot observation and performed a long follow-up observation. The high signal-to-noise spectra are modelled assuming different emission scenarios and compared with archival spectra taken by XMM-Newton and Chandra. The PG 2112+059 X-ray spectra acquired in May 2007 allowed the detection of a weak iron fluorescent line, which is interpreted as being caused by reflection from neutral material at some distance from the primary X-ray emitting source. The X-ray spectra of PG 2112+059 taken at five different epochs during different flux states can be interpreted within two different scenarios. The first consists of two layers of ionised material with column densities of N_H ~5 x 10^22 cm^-2 and N_H ~3.5 x 10^23 cm^-2, respectively. The first layer is moderately ionised and its ionisation levels follow the flux changes, while the other layer is highly ionised and does not show any correlation with the flux of the source. The spectra can also be interpreted assuming reflection by an ionised accretion disk seen behind a warm absorber. The warm absorber ionisation is consistent with being correlated with the flux of the source, which provides an additional degree of self-consistency with the overall reflection-based model. We explain the spectral variability with light bending according to the models of Miniutti and Fabian and constrain the black hole spin to be a/M > 0.86. Both scenarios also assume that a distant cold reflector is responsible for the Fe K alpha emission line. Light bending provides an attractive explanation of the different states of PG 2112+059 and may also describe the physical cause of the observed properties of other X-ray weak quasars.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
