scholarly journals Relations between phenomenological and physical parameters in the hot coronae of AGNs computed with the MoCA code

2019 ◽  
Vol 630 ◽  
pp. A131 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Middei ◽  
S. Bianchi ◽  
A. Marinucci ◽  
G. Matt ◽  
P.-O. Petrucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Monte Carlo Code ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Accretion Rates ◽  
Energy Cutoff ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Hot Corona ◽  
Black Hole Masses

Context. The primary X-ray emission in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is widely believed to be due to Comptonisation of the thermal radiation from the accretion disc in a corona of hot electrons. The resulting spectra can, in first approximation, be modelled with a cut-off power law, the photon index and the high-energy roll-over encoding information on the physical properties of the X ray emitting region. The photon index and the high-energy curvature of AGNs (Γ, Ec) have been largely studied since the launch of X-ray satellites operating above 10 keV. However, high-precision measurements of these two observables have only been obtained in recent years thanks to the unprecedented sensitivity of NuSTAR up to 79 keV. Aims. We aim at deriving relations between Γ, Ec phenomenological parameters and the intrinsic properties of the X-ray-emitting region (the hot corona), namely the optical depth and temperature. Methods. We use MoCA (Monte Carlo code for Comptonisation in Astrophysics) to produce synthetic spectra for the case of an AGN with MBH = 1.5 × 108 M⊙ and ṁ = 0.1 and then compared them with the widely used power-law model with an exponential high-energy cutoff. Results. We provide phenomenological relations relating Γ and Ec with the opacity and temperature of the coronal electrons for the case of spherical and slab-like coronae. These relations give origin to a well defined parameter space which fully contains the observed values. Exploiting the increasing number of high-energy cut-offs quoted in the literature, we report on the comparison of physical quantities obtained using MoCA with those estimated using commonly adopted spectral Comptonisation models. Finally, we discuss the negligible impact of different black hole masses and accretion rates on the inferred relations.

scholarly journals X-ray Properties of 3C 111: Separation of Primary Nuclear Emission and Jet Continuum

Universe ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 219
Author(s):  
Elena Fedorova ◽  
B.I. Hnatyk ◽  
V.I. Zhdanov ◽  
A. Del Popolo
Keyword(s):  
Accretion Disk ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Line Emission ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Power Law Model ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Observational Dataset ◽  
Simple Power ◽  
Photon Index

3C111 is BLRG with signatures of both FSRQ and Sy1 in X-ray spectrum. The significant X-ray observational dataset was collected for it by INTEGRAL, XMM-Newton, SWIFT, Suzaku and others. The overall X-ray spectrum of 3C 111 shows signs of a peculiarity with the large value of the high-energy cut-off typical rather for RQ AGN, probably due to the jet contamination. Separating the jet counterpart in the X-ray spectrum of 3C 111 from the primary nuclear counterpart can answer the question is this nucleus truly peculiar or this is a fake “peculiarity” due to a significant jet contribution. In view of this question, our aim is to estimate separately the accretion disk/corona and non-thermal jet emission in the 3C 111 X-ray spectra within different observational periods. To separate the disk/corona and jet contributions in total continuum, we use the idea that radio and X-ray spectra of jet emission can be described by a simple power-law model with the same photon index. This additional information allows us to derive rather accurate values of these contributions. In order to test these results, we also consider relations between the nuclear continuum and the line emission.

scholarly journals The inner view of NGC 1052 using multiple X-ray observations

2019 ◽  
Vol 491 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Osorio-Clavijo ◽  
O González-Martín ◽  
I E Papadakis ◽  
J Masegosa ◽  
L Hernández-García
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Spectral Slope ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Band Power ◽  
Neutral Material ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Epoch Analysis ◽  
First Time ◽  
Reflection Component

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present a multi-epoch analysis of NGC 1052, a prototypical low-luminisity active galactic nucleus, using XMM–Newton, Suzaku and NuSTAR observations taken from 2001 to 2017. This is the first time that results from NuSTAR observations have been reported for NGC 1052. Regarding technical aspects, we found a wavelength-dependent calibration issue between simultaneous XMM–Newton and NuSTAR spectra, characterized by a change in the photon index of $\rm { \Gamma _{NuSTAR}- \Gamma _{XMM-Newton}=0.17\pm 0.04}$. We use ancillary Chandra data to decontaminate the nuclear spectrum from circumnuclear contributors. We find that two baseline models can fit the broad (0.5–50 keV) X-ray spectrum of the source. One consists of a power-law-like continuum that is absorbed by a uniform absorber, and is reflected by neutral material, and a separate power-law component in the soft band. The second model consists of a clumpy absorber. The reflection component is still present, but not the soft-band power law. Instead, absorption by a warm absorber is necessary to fit the spectra. This is the first time that a reflection component has been established in this object, thanks to high-energy data from NuSTAR. This component is constant in flux and shape, supporting the idea that it is produced away from the central source (probably in the torus). We find flux, spectral slope and absorption variations on time-scales of months to years. We also find that a patchy absorber can explain the behaviour of this source better, as it is ∼200 times more likely than the uniform absorber and yields smaller intrinsic variations.

scholarly journals Modelling the Soft X-ray Excess in E1615+061

1994 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 317-317
Author(s):  
M. Bałucińska-Church ◽  
L. Piro ◽  
H. Fink ◽  
F. Fiore ◽  
M. Matsuoka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Column Density ◽  
High Energy ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Hard Component ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Simple Power ◽  
High Energy Tail ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Best Fit

SummaryWe report results of an international UV – X-ray campaign in 1990–1992 involving the IUE, Rosat and Ginga satellites to observe E1615+061, a Seyfert 1 galaxy with peculiar spectral and intensity behaviour over the last 20 years. The source has been found to be stable in its medium state during the observations. The Ginga (1–20 keV) spectrum of E1615+061 is adequately represented by a simple power law with a photon index α = 1.8 ± 0.1. However, α ∼ 2, as expected for the intrinsic power law component in a reflection model, cannot be ruled out statistically. The Rosat PSPC (0.1–2 keV) spectra collected during the All Sky Survey and the AO-1 phase can be well-described by a simple power law (α = 2.2 ± 0.1) with cold absorber (NH = 3.5 ± 0.3 · 10λ20 H/cmλ2). Both the photon index being significantly different than that obtained from the Ginga spectrum and the column density being smaller than the galactic column (NH ∼ 4.2 · 10λ20 H/cmλ2) give an indication of a soft excess over and above the hard component seen in the Ginga spectrum. E1615+061 has been observed with IUE in 1990 and in 1992. The source was stable and the colour excess E(B-V) derived from the data = 0.1 is in good agreement with that expected from the galactic absorption.To parameterise the soft excess we fitted the Rosat data with a two-component model consisting of a power law, and a blackbody or thermal bremsstrahlung, with a single galactic absorption term. The column density and the slope of the power law were kept constant. The blackbody temperature was 80 ± 6 eV and 63 ± 12 eV for photon index equal to 1.8 and 2.0, respectively, whereas the bremsstrahlung temperature was 220 ± 40 eV and 115 ± 30 eV for the two cases.An attempt to model the soft excess seen in the Rosat PSPC spectrum has been made assuming that the soft excess is the high energy tail of a disc spectrum which peaks in the UV part of the spectrum. Additionally it was assumed that there is a hard component contributing to the spectrum from UV to X-rays with parameters as described by the Ginga spectrum. The best fit parameters: the mass of the central source and the mass accretion rate were around 5 ± 1 · 10λ6 M⊙ and 0.2 ± 0.04 M⊙/yr, respectively.Our modelling shows that the soft X-ray excess can be described (χredλ2 < 1.2) as the high energy tail of an accretion disk spectrum if the intrinsic power law is quite steep (α = 2). The main contribution to the residuals in the Rosat PSPC range comes from 0.3–0.6 keV, with a tendency for these residuals to increase when the slope gets flatter. The accretion luminosity is ∼ 6.5 · 10λ44 erg/s for the best fit parameters, i.e. about the Eddington luminosity.

scholarly journals Energy distribution of relativistic electrons in the kiloparsec scale jet of M 87 with Chandra

2018 ◽  
Vol 612 ◽  
pp. A106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Na Sun ◽  
Rui-Zhi Yang ◽  
Frank M. Rieger ◽  
Ruo-Yu Liu ◽  
Felix Aharonian
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Broad Band ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Relativistic Electrons ◽  
Complex Situation ◽  
Satisfactory Description ◽  
X Ray ◽  
General Decline ◽  
Photon Index

The X-ray emission from the jets in active galactic nuclei (AGN) carries important information on the distributions of relativistic electrons and magnetic fields on large scales. We reanalysed archival Chandra observations on the jet of M 87 from 2000 to 2016 with a total exposure of 1460 kiloseconds to explore the X-ray emission characteristics along the jet. We investigated the variability behaviours of the nucleus and the inner jet component HST-1, and confirm indications for day-scale X-ray variability in the nucleus contemporaneous to the 2010 high TeV γ-ray state. HST-1 shows a general decline in X-ray flux over the last few years consistent with its synchrotron interpretation. We extracted the X-ray spectra for the nucleus and all knots in the jet, showing that they are compatible with a single power law within the X-ray band. There are indications that the resultant X-ray photon index exhibit a trend, with slight but significant index variations ranging from ≃ 2.2 (e.g. in knot D) to ≃ 2.4−2.6 (in the outer knots F, A, and B). When viewed in a multiwavelength context, a more complex situation can be seen. Fitting the radio to X-ray spectral energy distributions (SEDs) assuming a synchrotron origin, we show that a broken power-law electron spectrum with break energy Eb around 1 (300 μG/B)1/2 TeV allows a satisfactory description of the multiband SEDs for most of the knots. However, in the case of knots B, C, and D we find indications that an additional high-energy component is needed to adequately reproduce the broad-band SEDs. We discuss the implications and suggest that a stratified jet model may account for the differences.

scholarly journals An Inverse Compton Scattering Model for the Spectra of X-ray Pulsars

1987 ◽  
Vol 125 ◽  
pp. 248-248
Author(s):  
G.J. Qiao ◽  
X.J. Wu ◽  
H. Chen ◽  
X.Y. Xia
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Lower Energy ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Energy Index ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Inverse Compton Scattering ◽  
Cyclotron Absorption ◽  
Inverse Compton ◽  
Energy Cutoff

Many observations have been reported in the field of X-ray pulsars, but the mechanism for X-ray emission is not well understood. The X-ray spectra can not be simply described in terms of blackbody or thermal bremsstralung. The high-energy cutoff could be due to cyclotron absorption in high (≧1012 Gauss) magnetic fields. For the lower energy it can be fitted by a power law with energy index α.

scholarly journals High Energy Continuum Spectra from X-Ray Binaries

1997 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 41-52
Author(s):  
S.N. Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Surface Radiation ◽  
State Transitions ◽  
Hot Electron ◽  
Common Component ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Converging Flow ◽  
X Ray Binaries

AbstractA variety of high energy (>1 keV) spectra have been observed in recent years from Black Hole (BH) and Neutron Star (NS) X-ray Binaries (XB). Some common physical components exist between BHXBs and NSXBs, resulting in some high energy spectral features. A common component between a BHXB and a weakly magnetized NSXB is the inner accretion disk region extending very close to the surface (for a NS) or the horizon (for a BH). The inner disk radiation can be described by a multi-color blackbody (MCB) spectral model. The surface radiation of the NS can be approximated by a Single Color Blackbody (SCB) spectrum. For a strongly magnetized NSXB, the high energy emission is from its magnetosphere, characterised by a thermal bremsstrahlung (TB) spectrum. In both BHXBs and weakly magnetized NSXBs, a hot electron cloud may exist, producing the hard X-ray power law (photon index −1.5 to −2.0) with thermal cutoff (50–200 keV). It has been recently proposed that a converging flow may be formed near the horizon of a BH, producing a softer power law (photon index about −2.5) without cutoff up to several hundred keV. Based on these concepts we also discuss possible ways to distinguish between BH and NS XBs. Finally we discuss briefly spectral state transitions in both BH and NS XBs.

Analysis of physical parameters associated with the measurement of high-energy x-ray penumbra

1984 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Dawson ◽  
J. M. Harper ◽  
A. C. Akinradewo
Keyword(s):  
High Energy ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
X Ray

scholarly journals Broad-band study of high-synchrotron-peaked BL Lac object 1ES 1218+304

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (4) ◽  
pp. 5518-5527
Author(s):  
N Sahakyan
Keyword(s):  
Energy Distribution ◽  
Electron Energy ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Spectral Energy Distribution ◽  
Broad Band ◽  
Energy Distributions ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Bl Lac ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Γ Ray

ABSTRACT The origin of the multiwavelength emission from the high-synchrotron-peaked BL Lac 1ES 1218+304 is studied using the data from SwiftUVOT/XRT, NuSTAR, and Fermi-LAT. A detailed temporal and spectral analysis of the data observed during 2008–2020 in the  γ-ray (&gt;100 MeV), X-ray (0.3–70 keV), and optical/UV bands is performed. The γ-ray spectrum is hard with a photon index of 1.71 ± 0.02 above 100 MeV. The SwiftUVOT/XRT data show a flux increase in the UV/optical and X-ray bands; the highest 0.3–3 keV X-ray flux was (1.13 ± 0.02) × 10−10 erg cm−2 s−1. In the 0.3–10 keV range, the averaged X-ray photon index is &gt;2.0 which softens to 2.56 ± 0.028 in the 3–50 keV band. However, in some periods, the X-ray photon index became extremely hard (&lt;1.8), indicating that the peak of the synchrotron component was above 1 keV, and so 1ES 1218+304 behaved like an extreme synchrotron BL Lac. The hardest X-ray photon index of 1ES 1218+304 was 1.60 ± 0.05 on MJD 58489. The time-averaged multiwavelength spectral energy distribution is modelled within a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton leptonic model using a broken power law and power law with an exponential cutoff electron energy distributions. The data are well explained when the electron energy distribution is $E_{\rm e}^{-2.1}$ extending up to γbr/cut ≃ (1.7 − 4.3) × 105, and the magnetic field is weak (B ∼ 1.5 × 10−2 G). By solving the kinetic equation for electron evolution in the emitting region, the obtained electron energy distributions are discussed considering particle injection, cooling, and escape.

Energy-dependent nebula extent and spatially resolved spectra of the pulsar wind nebula 3C 58

2020 ◽  
Vol 498 (2) ◽  
pp. 1911-1919
Author(s):  
Fang-Wu Lu ◽  
Quan-Gui Gao ◽  
Li Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Surface Brightness ◽  
Spectral Energy Distribution ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Spatial Variations ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Spatially Resolved ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Pulsar Wind ◽  
Energy Dependent

ABSTRACT 3C 58 is a pulsar wind nebula (PWN) that shows an interesting energy-dependent nebula extent and spatial variations of the photon index and surface brightness in the X-ray band. These observations provide useful information with which to study the spatially dependent radiative cooling of electrons and the energy-dependent transport mechanisms within the nebula. In this paper, the energy-dependent nebula extent and spatially resolved spectra of this PWN are investigated in the framework of a spatially dependent particle transport model. The observations of the nebula, including the photon spectral energy distribution, spatial variations of the X-ray spectrum, and measurements of the nebula extent, can be naturally explained in this model. Our results show that the energy-dependent nebula extent favours an advection–diffusion scenario with advection-dominated transport, and the variations of the nebula extent with energy in the X-ray band can be attributed to the cooling losses of high-energy electrons affected by synchrotron burn-off. Particle diffusion plays an important role in modifying the spatial variations of the photon index and surface brightness in the X-ray band. The radial extents of the nebula at radio, GeV and TeV energies are predicted by the model, indicating that the nebula extent of 3C 58 varies with energy in these bands. The analyses show that the dependence of the adiabatic cooling rate and synchrotron radiation on the spectral index of injected particles is important for changing the nebula extent at different energies.

scholarly journals Discovery of a New X-ray Transient in Scorpius GRO J1655-40 ≡ X-ray Nova Scorpii 1994

1996 ◽  
Vol 165 ◽  
pp. 363-367
Author(s):  
W.S. Paciesas ◽  
S.N. Zhang ◽  
B.C. Rubin ◽  
B.A. Harmon ◽  
C.A. Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Radio Observations ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Black Hole Candidate ◽  
Radio Jets ◽  
Transient Source ◽  
Galactic Source ◽  
Photon Index

A bright transient X-ray source, GRO J1655-40 (X-ray Nova Scorpii 1994) was discovered with BATSE (the Burst and Transient Source Experiment) in late July 1994. More recently, the source also became a strong radio emitter, its rise in the radio being approximately anti-correlated with a decline in the hard X-ray intensity. High-resolution radio observations subsequent to this symposium showed evidence for superluminally expanding jets. Since the hard X-ray emission extends to at least 200 keV and we find no evidence of pulsations, we tentatively classify the source as a black-hole candidate. However, its hard X-ray spectrum is unusually steep (power-law photon index α ≃ −3) relative to most other black-hole candidates. In this regard, it resembles GRS 1915+105, the first galactic source to show superluminal radio jets.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document