Suzaku Observations of the Hard X-Ray Variability of MCG −6–30–15: the Effects of Strong Gravity around a Kerr Black Hole

Miniutti, G.; Fabian, A. C.; Anabuki, Naohisa; Crummy, Jamie; Fukazawa, Yasushi; Gallo, Luigi; Haba, Yoshito; Hayashida, Kentaro; Holt, S. S.; Kunieda, H.; Larsson, Josefin; Markowitz, A.; Matsumoto, Chiho; Ohno, M.; Reeves, J. N.; Takahash, Tadayuki; Tanaka, Yasuo; Terashima, Yuichi; Torii, K.; Ueda, Yoshihiro; Ushio, Masayoshi; Watanabe, Shin; Yamauchi, M.; Yaqoob, T.

doi:10.1093/pasj/59.sp1.s315

Cited by 147 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Parker et al (2014a) study the variability of MCG-6-30-15 with Principal Component Analysis (PCA), finding that the variability is consistent with that expected from an intrinsically variable X-ray source with less variable relativistic reflection. This is corroborated by Miniutti et al (2007), who calculate the RMS (fractional variability) spectrum of a Suzaku observation of MCG-6-30-15, which has a similar shape to the short timescale FVar spectrum found here. This could arise from a vertically extended or two component corona, in which, due to strong light bending, the lower portion principally illuminates the disc while the upper region is responsible for the majority of the direct emission.…”

Section: Comparison With a Similar Sourcesupporting

confidence: 89%

NuSTAR observations of Mrk 766: distinguishing reflection from absorption

Buisson

Parker

Kara

et al. 2018

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We present two new NuSTAR observations of the narrow line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy Mrk 766 and give constraints on the two scenarios previously proposed to explain its spectrum and that of other NLS1s: relativistic reflection and partial covering. The NuSTAR spectra show a strong hard (> 15 keV) X-ray excess, while simultaneous soft X-ray coverage of one of the observations provided by XMM-Newton constrains the ionised absorption in the source. The pure reflection model requires a black hole of high spin (a > 0.92) viewed at a moderate inclination (i = 46 +1 −4 • ). The pure partial covering model requires extreme parameters: the cut-off of the primary continuum is very low (22 +7 −5 keV) in one observation and the intrinsic X-ray emission must provide a large fraction (75%) of the bolometric luminosity. Allowing a hybrid model with both partial covering and reflection provides more reasonable absorption parameters and relaxes the constraints on reflection parameters. The fractional variability reduces around the iron K band and at high energies including the Compton hump, suggesting that the reflected emission is less variable than the continuum.

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Section: Comparison With a Similar Sourcesupporting

confidence: 89%

NuSTAR observations of Mrk 766: distinguishing reflection from absorption

Buisson

Parker

Kara

et al. 2018

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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“…MCG-06-30-15 is a very bright Seyfert 1 galaxy at redshift z = 0.007749 with many observations from different X-ray missions; see, for instance, Refs. [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. This source has a broad and very prominent iron Kα line, so it is quite a natural candidate for our tests of the Kerr metric using X-ray reflection spectroscopy.…”

Section: Observations and Data Reductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Precision Tests of General Relativity with Black Hole X-Ray Reflection Spectroscopy

Tripathi

Nampalliwar

Abdikamalov

et al. 2019

ApJ

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Astrophysical black hole systems are the ideal laboratories for testing Einstein's theory of gravity in the strong field regime. We have recently developed a framework which uses the reflection spectrum of black hole systems to perform precision tests of general relativity by testing the Kerr black hole hypothesis. In this paper, we analyze XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations of the supermassive black hole in the Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG-06-30-15 with our disk reflection model. We consider the Johannsen metric with the deformation parameters α13 and α22, which quantify deviations from the Kerr metric. For α22 = 0, we obtain the black hole spin 0.928 < a * < 0.983 and −0.44 < α13 < 0.15. For α13 = 0, we obtain 0.885 < a * < 0.987 and −0.12 < α22 < 1.05. The Kerr solution is recovered for α13 = α22 = 0. Thus, our results include the Kerr solution within statistical uncertainties. Systematic uncertainties are difficult to account for, and we discuss some issues in this regard.

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“…The line shape was interpreted as being due to relativistic reflection, implying an almost maximally spinning Kerr black hole (e.g. Tanaka et al 1995;Iwasawa et al 1996Iwasawa et al , 1999Miniutti et al 2007;Marinucci et al 2014). This interpretation was supported by the detection of short delays between the X-ray continuum and the soft band (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The nature of X-ray spectral variability in MCG–6-30-15

Kammoun

Papadakis

2017

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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The flux-flux plot (FFP) method can provide model-independent clues regarding the X-ray variability of active galactic nuclei. To use it properly, the bin size of the light curves should be as short as possible, provided the average counts in the light curve bins are larger than ∼ 200. We apply the FFP method to the 2013, simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations of the Seyfert galaxy MCG-6-30-15, in the 0.3-40 keV range. The FFPs above ∼ 1.6 keV are well-described by a straight line. This result rules out spectral slope variations and the hypothesis of absorption driven variability. Our results are fully consistent with a power-law component varying in normalization only, with a spectral slope of ∼ 2, plus a variable, relativistic reflection arising from the inner accretion disc around a rotating black hole. We also detect spectral components which remain constant over ∼ 4.5 days (at least). At energies above ∼ 1.5 keV, the stable component is consistent with reflection from distant, neutral material. The constant component at low energies is consistent with a blackbody spectrum of kT BB ∼ 100 eV. The fluxes of these components are ∼ 10 − 20% of the average continuum flux (in the respective bands). They should always be included in the models that are used to fit the spectrum of the source. The FFPs below 1.6 keV are non-linear, which could be due to the variable warm absorber in this source.

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Suzaku Observations of the Hard X-Ray Variability of MCG −6–30–15: the Effects of Strong Gravity around a Kerr Black Hole

Cited by 147 publications

References 49 publications

NuSTAR observations of Mrk 766: distinguishing reflection from absorption

NuSTAR observations of Mrk 766: distinguishing reflection from absorption

Toward Precision Tests of General Relativity with Black Hole X-Ray Reflection Spectroscopy

The nature of X-ray spectral variability in MCG–6-30-15

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