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Register a new userThe XMM-Newton spectrum of a candidate recoiling supermassive black hole: an elusive inverted P-Cygni profile
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We present a detailed spectral analysis of new XMM-Newton data of the source CXOC J100043.1+020637, also known as CID-42, detected in the COSMOS survey at z = 0.359. Previous works suggested that CID-42 is a candidate recoiling supermassive black holes showing also an inverted P-Cygni profile in the X- ray spectra at ~6 keV (rest) with an iron emission line plus a redshifted absorption line (detected at 3sigma in previous XMM-Newton and Chandra observations). Detailed analysis of the absorption line suggested the presence of ionized material inflowing into the black hole at high velocity. In the new long XMM-Newton observation, while the overall spectral shape remains constant, the continuum 2-10 keV flux decreased of ~20% with respect to previous observation and the absorption line is undetected. The upper limit on the intensity of the absorption line is EW<162 keV. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations show that the non detection of the line is solely due to variation in the properties of the inflowing material, in agreement with the transient nature of these features, and that the intensity of the line is lower than the previously measured with a probability of 98.8%. In the scenario of CID-42 as recoiling SMBH, the absorption line can be interpreted as due to inflow of gas with variable density and located in the proximity of the SMBH and recoiling with it. New monitoring observations will be requested to further characterize this line.
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Understanding the processes that drive galaxy formation and shape the observed properties of galaxies is one of the most interesting and challenging frontier problems of modern astrophysics. We now know that the evolution of galaxies is critically shaped by the energy injection from accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs). However, it is unclear how exactly the physics of this feedback process affects galaxy formation and evolution. In particular, a major challenge is unraveling how the energy released near the SMBHs is distributed over nine orders of magnitude in distance throughout galaxies and their immediate environments. The best place to study the impact of SMBH feedback is in the hot atmospheres of massive galaxies, groups, and galaxy clusters, which host the most massive black holes in the Universe, and where we can directly image the impact of black holes on their surroundings. We identify critical questions and potential measurements that will likely transform our understanding of the physics of SMBH feedback and how it shapes galaxies, through detailed measurements of (i) the thermodynamic and velocity fluctuations in the intracluster medium (ICM) as well as (ii) the composition of the bubbles inflated by SMBHs in the centers of galaxy clusters, and their influence on the cluster gas and galaxy growth, using the next generation of high spectral and spatial resolution X-ray and microwave telescopes.
We use Chandra X-ray observations to look for evidence of a recoiling black hole from the brightest cluster galaxy in Abell 2261 (A2261-BCG). A2261-BCG is a strong candidate for a recoiling black hole because of its large, flat stellar core, revealed by Hubble Space Telescope imaging observations. We took 100-ksec observations with Chandra and combined it with 35 ksec of archival observations to look for low-level accretion onto a black hole of expected mass $Msim10^{10} M_{scriptscriptstyle odot}$ that could possibly be located in one of four off-center stellar knots near the galaxys center or else in the optical center of the galaxy or in the location of radio emission. We found no X-ray emission arising from a point source in excess of the cluster gas and can place limits on the accretion of any black hole in the central region to a 2-7 keV flux below $4.3 times 10^{-16} mathrm{erg s^{-1} cm^{-2}}$, corresponding to a bolometric Eddington fraction of about $10^{-6}$. Thus there is either no $10^{10} M_{scriptscriptstyle odot}$ black hole in the core of A2261-BCG, or it is accreting at a low level. We also discuss the morphology of the X-ray emitting gas in the cluster and how its asymmetry is consistent with a large dynamic event.
Recent XMM-Newton observations of the black-hole candidate 4U 1630-47 during the 2012 outburst revealed three relativistically Doppler-shifted emission lines that were interpreted as arising from baryonic matter in the jet of this source. Here we reanalyse those data and find an alternative model that, with less free parameters than the model with Doppler-shifted emission lines, fits the data well. In our model we allow the abundance of S and Fe in the interstellar material along the line of sight to the source to be non solar. Among other things, this significantly impacts the emission predicted by the model at around 7.1 keV, where the edge of neutral Fe appears, and renders the lines unnecessary. The fits to all the 2012 XMM-Newton observations of this source require a moderately broad emission line at around 7 keV plus several absorption lines and edges due to highly ionised Fe and Ni, which reveal the presence of a highly-ionised absorber close to the source. Finally, our model also fits well the observations in which the lines were detected when we apply the most recent calibration files, whereas the model with the three Doppler-shifted emission lines does not.
We observed the new X-ray transient and black-hole candidate XTE J1652-453 simultaneously with XMM-Newton and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The observation was done during the decay of the 2009 outburst, when XTE J1652-453 was in the hard-intermediate state. The spectrum shows a strong and broad iron emission line with an equivalent width of ~ 450 eV. The profile is consistent with that of a line being produced by reflection off the accretion disk, broadened by relativistic effects close to the black hole. The best-fitting inner radius of the accretion disk is ~ 4 gravitational radii. Assuming that the accretion disk is truncated at the radius of the innermost stable circular orbit, the black hole in XTE J1652-453 has a spin parameter of ~ 0.5. The power spectrum of the RXTE observation has an additional variability component above 50 Hz, which is typical for the hard-intermediate state. No coherent quasi-periodic oscillations at low frequency are apparent in the power spectrum, which may imply that we view the system at a rather low inclination angle.
We present SDSSJ092712.65+294344.0 as the best candidate to date for a recoiling supermassive black hole (SMBH). SDSSJ0927+2943 shows an exceptional optical emission-line spectrum with two sets of emission lines: one set of very narrow emission lines, and a second set of broad Balmer and broad high-ionization forbidden lines which are blueshifted by 2650 kms relative to the set of narrow emission lines. This observation is most naturally explained if the SMBH was ejected from the core of the galaxy, carrying with it the broad-line gas while leaving behind the bulk of the narrow-line gas. We show that the observed properties of SDSSJ0927+2943 are consistent with predictions and expectations from recent numerical relativity simulations which demonstrate that SMBHs can receive kicks up to several thousand kms due to anisotropic emission of gravitational waves during the coalescence of a binary. Our detection of a strong candidate for a rapidly recoiling SMBH implies that kicks large enough to remove SMBHs completely from their host galaxies do occur, with important implications for models of black hole and galaxy assembly at the epoch of structure formation, and for recoil models.
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