scholarly journals Probing the evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei using the narrow iron Kα line

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S304) ◽  
pp. 148-148
Author(s):  
Claudio Ricci ◽  
S. Paltani ◽  
Y. Ueda ◽  
H. Awaki ◽  
P. Petrucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Fraction ◽  
Type I ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Baldwin Effect ◽  
Iron Line ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Narrow Component ◽  
Line Region ◽  
Photon Index

AbstractA large fraction of the AGN output power is emitted in the X-rays, in a region very close to the supermassive black hole (SMBH). The most distinctive feature of the X-ray spectra of AGN is the iron Kα line, often observed as the superposition of a broad and a narrow component. While the broad component is found in only ~ 35–45% of bright nearby AGN, the narrow component has been found to be ubiquitous. The narrow Fe Kα line is thought to be produced in the circumnuclear material, likely in the molecular torus. Given its origin, this feature is possibly the most important tracer of neutral matter surrounding the SMBH. One of the most interesting characteristics of the narrow Fe Kα line is the decrease of its equivalent width with the continuum luminosity, the so-called X-ray Baldwin effect (Iwasawa & Taniguchi 1993). This trend has been found by many studies of large samples of type-I AGN, and very recently also in type-II AGN (Ricci et al. 2013c, submitted to ApJ). The slope of the X-ray Baldwin effect in type-II AGN is the same of their unobscured counterparts, which implies that the mechanism at work is the same. Several hypothesis have been put forward in the last decade to explain the X-ray Baldwin effect: i) a luminosity-dependent variation in the ionisation state of the iron-emitting material (Nandra et al. 1997); ii) the decrease of the number of continuum photons in the iron line region with the Eddington ratio, as an effect of the well known correlation between the photon index and the Eddington ratio (Ricci et al. 2013b, submitted to MNRAS); iii) the decrease of the covering factor of the torus with the luminosity (e.g., Page et al. 2004, Ricci et al. 2013a A&A 553, 29) as expected by luminosity-dependent unification models (e.g., Ueda et al. 2003). In my talk I will review the main characteristics of the narrow Fe K? line, and present the results of our recent works aimed at explaining the X-ray Baldwin effect using iron-line emitting physical torus models (Ricci et al. 2013a, b), and at understanding the origin of the Fe K? line (Ricci et al. 2013c). I will focus in particular on the importance of the Fe Kα line as a probe of the evolution of the physical characteristics of the molecular torus with the luminosity.

scholarly journals Iron Line Emission from NGC1068

1989 ◽  
Vol 134 ◽  
pp. 167-172
Author(s):  
Katsuji Koyama
Keyword(s):  
Energy Range ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Equivalent Width ◽  
Line Emission ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Iron Line ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Central Engine ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
The Continuum

X-ray emission in the 2–10 keV energy range was observed with the Ginga satellite from the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC1068. The continuum spectrum can be described by a power-law of photon index about 1.5. An intense iron line at 6.5 keV with an equivalent width of 1.3 keV was clearly noticed. The X-ray flux was about 6 × 10 −12 erg/sec/cm2 or 3 × 1041 erg/sec, assuming a distance of 22 Mpc. The observed spectrum is consistent with the scattering and reprocessing of X-rays by the gas surrounding the central engine. With this picture we estimate that the X-ray flux of the central engine is about 1043 - 1044 erg/sec, a typical value for a Seyfert 1 galaxy.

Lactate dehydrogenase from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Methanococcus jannaschii: overexpression, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis

2000 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byung Il Lee ◽  
Changsoo Chang ◽  
Seung-Je Cho ◽  
Gye Won Han ◽  
Yeon Gyu Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Type I ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Asymmetric Unit ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Unit Cell Parameters ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Cell Parameters ◽  
Protein Mass ◽  
Crystal Volume

L(+)-Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is a key enzyme in anaerobic metabolism which converts pyruvate to lactate. LDH from the hyperthermophilic archaebacterium Methanococcus jannaschii has been overexpressed in Escherichia coli and crystallized in two crystal forms at 297 K using 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol as precipitant. Type I crystals grew rapidly and diffracted to at least 2.8 Å Bragg spacing upon exposure to Cu Kα X-rays. X-ray diffraction data to 2.9 Å have been collected from a native crystal. The type I crystal is tetragonal, belonging to the space group P42212, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 99.74, c = 170.00 Å. The asymmetric unit contains two LDH subunits, with a corresponding crystal volume per protein mass (V m ) of 3.05 Å3 Da−1 and a solvent content of 59.7%. Type II crystals, which grew more slowly, diffracted to at least 1.8 Å Bragg spacing upon exposure to Cu Kα X-rays. X-ray diffraction data to 1.9 Å have been collected from a native crystal. The type II crystal is orthorhombic, belonging to the space group P21212, with unit-cell parameters a = 47.65, b = 125.10, c = 58.08 Å. The asymmetric unit contains a single LDH subunit, with a corresponding crystal volume per protein mass (V m ) of 2.50 Å3 Da−1 and a solvent content of 50.8%. Therefore, the type II crystal is more suitable for high-resolution structure determination than the type I crystal.

scholarly journals Radio and X-ray connection in radio mini-halos: Implications for hadronic models

2020 ◽  
Vol 640 ◽  
pp. A37 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Ignesti ◽  
G. Brunetti ◽  
M. Gitti ◽  
S. Giacintucci
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Relativistic Electrons ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Hadronic Model ◽  
Radio Halos

Context. A large fraction of cool-core clusters are known to host diffuse, steep-spectrum radio sources, called radio mini-halos, in their cores. Mini-halos reveal the presence of relativistic particles on scales of hundreds of kiloparsecs, beyond the scales directly influenced by the central active galactic nucleus (AGN), but the nature of the mechanism that produces such a population of radio-emitting, relativistic electrons is still debated. It is also unclear to what extent the AGN plays a role in the formation of mini-halos by providing the seeds of the relativistic population. Aims. In this work we explore the connection between thermal and non-thermal components of the intra-cluster medium in a sample of radio mini-halos and we study the implications within the framework of a hadronic model for the origin of the emitting electrons. Methods. For the first time, we studied the thermal and non-thermal connection by carrying out a point-to-point comparison of the radio and the X-ray surface brightness in a sample of radio mini-halos. We extended the method generally applied to giant radio halos by considering the effects of a grid randomly generated through a Monte Carlo chain. Then we used the radio and X-ray correlation to constrain the physical parameters of a hadronic model and we compared the model predictions with current observations. Results. Contrary to what is generally reported in the literature for giant radio halos, we find that the mini-halos in our sample have super-linear scaling between radio and X-rays, which suggests a peaked distribution of relativistic electrons and magnetic field. We explore the consequences of our findings on models of mini-halos. We use the four mini-halos in the sample that have a roundish brightness distribution to constrain model parameters in the case of a hadronic origin of the mini-halos. Specifically, we focus on a model where cosmic rays are injected by the central AGN and they generate secondaries in the intra-cluster medium, and we assume that the role of turbulent re-acceleration is negligible. This simple model allows us to constrain the AGN cosmic ray luminosity in the range ∼1044−46 erg s−1 and the central magnetic field in the range 10–40 μG. The resulting γ-ray fluxes calculated assuming these model parameters do not violate the upper limits on γ-ray diffuse emission set by the Fermi-LAT telescope. Further studies are now required to explore the consistency of these large magnetic fields with Faraday rotation studies and to study the interplay between the secondary electrons and the intra-cluster medium turbulence.

scholarly journals Pair Production in AGN

1989 ◽  
Vol 134 ◽  
pp. 194-196
Author(s):  
C. Done ◽  
A. C. Fabian
Keyword(s):  
Pair Production ◽  
Compton Scattering ◽  
Energy Flux ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Small Region ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Electron Positron ◽  
Γ Rays ◽  
Radiant Power

The X-ray luminosity and variability of many AGN are sufficiently extreme that any hard γ-rays produced in the source will collide with the X-rays and create electron-positron pairs, rather than escape. A small region where vast amounts of energy are produced, such as an AGN, is an ideal place to accelerate particles to relativistic energies and so produce γ-rays by Compton scattering. The observed X-ray spectra of AGN are hard and indicate that most of the luminosity is at the highest energies so that absorption of the γ-rays represents a large fraction of the energy flux, which can then be re-radiated at lower energies. Pairs can thus effectively reprocess much of the radiant power in an AGN.

scholarly journals Gamma-ray-emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies: the Swift view

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (2) ◽  
pp. 2213-2229 ◽  
Author(s):  
F D’Ammando
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Thermal Emission ◽  
Optical Emission ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Narrow Line ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Relativistic Jet ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Γ Ray ◽  
Lower Variability

ABSTRACT We report the analysis of all Swift observations available up to 2019 April of γ-ray-emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLSy1). The distribution of X-ray luminosities (and fluxes) indicates that the jet radiation significantly contributes to their X-ray emission, with Doppler boosting making values higher than other radio-loud NLSy1. The 0.3–10 keV photon indices are on average harder with respect to radio-quiet and radio-loud NLSy1, confirming a dominant jet contribution in X-rays. However, the lower variability amplitude with respect to blazars and the softening of the spectrum in some periods suggests that also the corona radiation contributes to the X-ray emission. In optical and ultraviolet (UV) significant flux changes have been observed on daily, weekly, and monthly time-scale, providing a clear indication of the significant contribution of the jet radiation in this part of spectrum. A strong correlation between X-ray, UV, and optical emission and simultaneous flux variations have been observed in 1H 0323+342, SBS 0846+513, PMN J0948+0022 as expected in case the jet radiation is the dominant mechanism. Correlated multiband variability favours the jet-dominated scenario also in FBQS J1644+2619 and PKS 2004−447. The summed X-ray Telescope spectra of 1H 0323+342, SBS 0846+513, PMN J0948+0022, and FBQS J1644+2619 are well fitted by a broken power law with a break around 2 keV. The spectrum above 2 keV is dominated by the non-thermal emission from a beamed relativistic jet, as suggested by the hard photon index. A Seyfert-like feature like the soft X-ray excess has been observed below 2 keV, making these γ-ray-emitting NLSy1 different from typical blazars.

Exosat Observations of H2252−035: Pulse Phase and Orbital Phase Dependent Low Energy Absorption and Iron Line Emission

1987 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 281-292
Author(s):  
W. Pietsch ◽  
W. Voges ◽  
E. Kendziorra ◽  
M. Pakull
Keyword(s):  
Energy Absorption ◽  
Line Emission ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Gas Absorption ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Medium Energy ◽  
Iron Line ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Low Energies ◽  
Optical Light Curve

AbstractThe 805 sec pulsing X-ray source H2252−035 has been observed for 7 h on September 14/15 and on September 17, 1983 in X-rays with the low energy telescope and the medium energy detectors of EXOSAT. While below 2 keV the semiamplitude of the 805 s pulses is ~ 100% in the 2.3–7.9 keV band it is only ~ 40%. X-ray dips that are more pronounced in low energies occur simultaneously with the orbital minimum of the optical light curve. The medium energy spectra during dips with respect to the non dip spectrum can be explained by just enhanced cold gas absorption of an additional absorbing column of 2 1022 cm−2. Model spectra for the 805 s minimum have to include a strong iron emission line at 6.55 keV with an equivalent width of 3 keV in addition to a reduced continuum intensity (radiating area) and enhanced low energy absorption.

Pyrophosphates of Tetravalent Elements and a Mössbauer Study of SnP2O7

1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung-Hsi Huang ◽  
Osvald Knop ◽  
David A. Othen ◽  
Frank W. D. Woodhams ◽  
R. Allan Howie
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Shift ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Electric Field Gradient ◽  
The Other ◽  
Type I ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Transition Elements ◽  
Mössbauer Study ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Ionic Compounds

Cubic M4+P2O7 pyrophosphates of Ti, Zr, Hf, Sn, and Pb have been examined by X-ray powder diffractometry and by infrared, Raman, and Mössbauer 119Sn spectroscopy. The tin compound appeared to be of Chaunac's type I (with P2O7 groups oriented at random) and could be converted to type II (with ordered P2O7 groups) by heating to high temperatures. All the other preparations were of Chaunac's type II. Evidence from lattice parameters and intensity features of the Raman spectra suggests that the cubic MP2O7 pyrophosphates fall in two groups, one containing the compounds of the typical elements (Ge, Sn, Pb) and the other, the compounds of the transition elements. No support has been found for the view that the P—O—P groupings of the pyrophosphate anion in these compounds are linear. The 119Sn chemical shift in SnP2O7 is only slightly less negative than the shift in CuSnF6.4H2O, which makes SnP2O7 one of the most ionic compounds of tetravalent tin known. The observed quadrupole splitting in the Mössbauer spectrum of SnP2O7 arises largely from the contribution of the valence term to the electric field gradient at the Sn atom.

X-ray structure determination of the monoclinic (121 K) and orthorhombic (85 K) phases of langbeinite-type dithallium dicadmium sulfate

2000 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 921-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Guelylah ◽  
G. Madariaga ◽  
W. Morgenroth ◽  
M. I. Aroyo ◽  
T. Breczewski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Orthorhombic Symmetry ◽  
Type I ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Monoclinic Structure ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Distortion Analysis ◽  
Precise Analysis ◽  
Monoclinic Distortion

The structures of the monoclinic and the orthorhombic phases of type I langbeinite Tl2Cd2(SO4)3 have been determined at 121 and 85 K, respectively, by X-ray diffraction. A precise analysis of these structures shows the existence of some differences compared to langbeinites of type II. The monoclinic structure differs very little from the high-temperature cubic structure and the distortion relating the monoclinic structure to the cubic one is very small. SO4 tetrahedra seem to rotate under orthorhombic symmetry in the monoclinic phase. A symmetry distortion analysis of the ferroelectric monoclinic distortion discloses the importance of the secondary modes with orthorhombic symmetry, especially for the O atoms of the SO4 groups.

scholarly journals Interstellar Chemistry: Radiation, Dust and Metals

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S255) ◽  
pp. 238-245
Author(s):  
Marco Spaans
Keyword(s):  
Milky Way ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Chemical Processes ◽  
Molecular Gas ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Feedback Effects ◽  
Interstellar Chemistry ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Metal Abundances ◽  
Dust Surface

AbstractAn overview is given of the chemical processes that occur in primordial systems under the influence of radiation, metal abundances and dust surface reactions. It is found that radiative feedback effects differ for UV and X-ray photons at any metallicity, with molecules surviving quite well under irradiation by X-rays. Starburst and AGN will therefore enjoy quite different cooling abilities for their dense molecular gas. The presence of a cool molecular phase is strongly dependent on metallicity. Strong irradiation by cosmic rays (>200× the Milky Way value) forces a large fraction of the CO gas into neutral carbon. Dust is important for H2 and HD formation, already at metallicities of 10−4 − 10−3 solar, for electron abundances below 10−3.

scholarly journals The Multiwavelength AGN Population and the X-ray Background

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S304) ◽  
pp. 188-194
Author(s):  
Ezequiel Treister ◽  
Claudia M. Urry ◽  
Kevin Schawinski ◽  
Brooke D. Simmons ◽  
Priyamvada Natarajan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Black Hole ◽  
Mass Density ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Supermassive Black Holes ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Black Hole Growth ◽  
Hole Growth ◽  
X Ray Background

AbstractIn order to fully understand galaxy formation we need to know when in the cosmic history are supermassive black holes (SMBHs) growing more intensively, in what type of galaxies this growth is happening and what fraction of these sources are invisible at most wavelengths due to obscuration. Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) population synthesis models that can explain the spectral shape and intensity of the cosmic X-ray background (CXRB) indicate that most of the SMBH growth occurs in moderate-luminosity (LX~ 1044 erg/s) sources (Seyfert-type AGN), at z~ 0.5−1 and in heavily obscured but Compton-thin, NH~ 1023cm−2, systems. However, this is not the complete history, as a large fraction of black hole growth does not emit significantly in X-rays either due to obscuration, intrinsic low luminosities or large distances. The integrated intensity at high energies indicates that a significant fraction of the total black hole growth, 22%, occurs in heavily-obscured systems that are not individually detected in even the deepest X-ray observations. We further investigate the AGN triggering mechanism as a function of bolometric luminosity, finding evidence for a strong connection between significant black hole growth events and major galaxy mergers from z~ 0 to z~ 3, while less spectacular but longer accretion episodes are most likely due to other (stochastic) processes. AGN activity triggered by major galaxies is responsible for ~60% of the total black hole growth. Finally, we constrain the total accreted mass density in supermassive black holes at z > 6, inferred via the upper limit derived from the integrated X-ray emission from a sample of photometrically selected galaxy candidates. We estimate an accreted mass density <1000 M⊙Mpc−3 at z~ 6, significantly lower than the previous predictions from some existing models of early black hole growth and earlier prior observations.

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