Search

» » Light bending and X-ray echoes from behind a supermassive black hole - Nature.com

Light bending and X-ray echoes from behind a supermassive black hole - Nature.com

sekirta.blogspot.com

Abstract

The innermost regions of accretion disks around black holes are strongly irradiated by X-rays that are emitted from a highly variable, compact corona, in the immediate vicinity of the black hole1,2,3. The X-rays that are seen reflected from the disk4, and the time delays, as variations in the X-ray emission echo or ‘reverberate’ off the disk5,6, provide a view of the environment just outside the event horizon. I Zwicky 1 (I Zw 1) is a nearby narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy7,8. Previous studies of the reverberation of X-rays from its accretion disk revealed that the corona is composed of two components: an extended, slowly varying component extending over the surface of the inner accretion disk, and a collimated core, with luminosity fluctuations propagating upwards from its base, which dominates the more rapid variability9,10. Here we report observations of X-ray flares emitted from around the supermassive black hole in I Zw 1. X-ray reflection from the accretion disk is detected through a relativistically broadened iron K line and Compton hump in the X-ray emission spectrum. Analysis of the X-ray flares reveals short flashes of photons consistent with the re-emergence of emission from behind the black hole. The energy shifts of these photons identify their origins from different parts of the disk11,12. These are photons that reverberate off the far side of the disk, and are bent around the black hole and magnified by the strong gravitational field. Observing photons bent around the black hole confirms a key prediction of general relativity.

Access options

Rent or Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

from$8.99

Rent or Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Fig. 1: X-ray light curves of the AGN I Zw 1.
Fig. 2: Schematic of the X-ray reverberation model.
Fig. 3: Modelled response of the reverberating iron K fluorescence line to a flare of continuum emission.
Fig. 4: Features of the reverberation response function detected during the X-ray flares.

Data availability

The data used in this study from NuSTAR and XMM-Newton are publicly available. NuSTAR observations can be accessed via the NASA High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov). This work includes data obtained during NuSTAR observation ID 60501030002. XMM-Newton observations can be accessed via the XMM-Newton Science Archive (http://nxsa.esac.esa.int/nxsa-web). The primary analysis was conducted on observation IDs 0851990101 and 0851990201. Observation IDs 0110890301, 0300470101, 0743050301 and 0743050801 were included in the measurement of the average reverberation timescale.

Code availability

X-ray spectroscopic analysis was conducted using xspec, which is freely available as part of the Heasoft package (https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/software/heasoft). The emcee MCMC sampling code is available is available at http://emcee.readthedocs.io, and the X-spec implementation by J. Sanders is available at https://github.com/jeremysanders/xspec_emcee. The relxill X-ray reflection model is available at https://ift.tt/3j1wN6e. Analysis of light curves and X-ray reverberation was conducted using pyLag, publicly available at https://github.com/wilkinsdr/pyLag. The CUDAKerr code used for reverberation modelling is available on request from the corresponding author.

References

  1. 1.

    Galeev, A. A., Rosner, R. & Vaiana, G. S. Structured coronae of accretion disks. Astrophys. J. 229, 318–326 (1979).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. 2.

    Haardt, F. & Maraschi, L. A two-phase model for the X-ray emission from Seyfert galaxies. Astrophys. J. Lett. 380, L51 (1991).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. 3.

    Merloni, A. & Fabian, A. C. Thunderclouds and accretion discs: a model for the spectral and temporal variability of Seyfert 1 galaxies. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 328, 958–968 (2001).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. 4.

    George, I. M. & Fabian, A. C. X-ray reflection from cold matter in active galactic nuclei and X-ray binaries. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 249, 352–367 (1991).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. 5.

    Uttley, P., Cackett, E. M., Fabian, A. C., Kara, E. & Wilkins, D. R. X-ray reverberation around accreting black holes. Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 22, 72 (2014).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. 6.

    Fabian, A. C. et al. Broad line emission from iron K- and L-shell transitions in the active galaxy 1H0707–495. Nature 459, 540–542 (2009).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. 7.

    Boller, T., Brandt, W. N. & Fink, H. Soft X-ray properties of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies. Astron. Astrophys. 305, 53 (1996).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. 8.

    Gallo, L. C. Investigating the nature of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies with high-energy spectral complexity. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 368, 479–486 (2006).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. 9.

    Wilkins, D. R. et al. Revealing structure and evolution within the corona of the Seyfert galaxy I Zw 1. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 471, 4436–4451 (2017).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  10. 10.

    Gallo, L. C., Brandt, W. N., Costantini, E. & Fabian, A. C. A longer XMM-Newton look at I Zwicky 1—distinct modes of X-ray spectral variability. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 377, 1375–1382 (2007).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  11. 11.

    Reynolds, C. S., Young, A. J., Begelman, M. C. & Fabian, A. C. X-ray iron line reverberation from black hole accretion disks. Astrophys. J. 514, 164–179 (1999).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  12. 12.

    Wilkins, D. R., Cackett, E. M., Fabian, A. C. & Reynolds, C. S. Towards modelling X-ray reverberation in AGN: piecing together the extended corona. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 458, 200–225 (2016).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  13. 13.

    Harrison, F. A. et al. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) high-energy X-ray mission. Astrophys. J. 770, 103 (2013).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  14. 14.

    Jansen, F. et al. XMM-Newton observatory. I. The spacecraft and operations. Astron. Astrophys. 365, L1–L6 (2001).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  15. 15.

    Risaliti, G. et al. A rapidly spinning supermassive black hole at the centre of NGC 1365. Nature 494, 449–451 (2013).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  16. 16.

    Fabian, A. C., Rees, M. J., Stella, L. & White, N. E. X-ray fluorescence from the inner disc in Cygnus X-1. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 238, 729–736 (1989).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  17. 17.

    Wilkins, D. R. et al. Flaring from the supermassive black hole in Mrk 335 studied with Swift and NuSTAR. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 454, 4440–4451 (2015).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  18. 18.

    Strüder, L. et al. The European photon imaging camera on XMM-Newton: the pn-CCD camera. Astron. Astrophys. 365, L18–L26 (2001).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  19. 19.

    Dauser, T. et al. Normalizing a relativistic model of X-ray reflection. Definition of the reflection fraction and its implementation in relxill. Astron. Astrophys. 590, A76 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. 20.

    García, J. & Kallman, T. R. X-ray reflected spectra from accretion disk models. I. Constant density atmospheres. Astrophys. J. 718, 695–706 (2010).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  21. 21.

    García, J., Kallman, T. R. & Mushotzky, R. F. X-ray reflected spectra from accretion disk models. II. Diagnostic tools for X-ray observations. Astrophys. J. 731, 131 (2011).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  22. 22.

    García, J. et al. X-Ray reflected spectra from accretion disk models. III. A complete grid of ionized reflection calculations. Astrophys. J. 768, 146 (2013).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  23. 23.

    Dauser, T., Wilms, J., Reynolds, C. S. & Brenneman, L. W. Broad emission lines for a negatively spinning black hole. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 409, 1534–1540 (2010).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  24. 24.

    Silva, C. V. et al. The variability of the warm absorber in I Zwicky 1 as seen by XMM-Newton. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 480, 2334–2342 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  25. 25.

    Costantini, E., Gallo, L. C., Brandt, W. N., Fabian, A. C. & Boller, T. A longer XMM-Newton look at I Zwicky 1: physical conditions and variability of the ionized absorbers. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 378, 873–880 (2007).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  26. 26.

    García, J. A. et al. The effects of high density on the X-ray spectrum reflected from accretion discs around black holes. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 462, 751–760 (2016).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  27. 27.

    Done, C., Davis, S. W., Jin, C., Blaes, O. & Ward, M. Intrinsic disc emission and the soft X-ray excess in active galactic nuclei. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 420, 1848–1860 (2012).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  28. 28.

    Wilkins, D. R. & Fabian, A. C. Understanding X-ray reflection emissivity profiles in AGN: locating the X-ray source. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 424, 1284–1296 (2012).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  29. 29.

    Wilkins, D. R. & Fabian, A. C. The origin of the lag spectra observed in AGN: reverberation and the propagation of X-ray source fluctuations. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 430, 247–258 (2013).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  30. 30.

    Press, W. H. & Schechter, P. Remark on the statistical significance of flares in Poisson count data. Astrophys. J. 193, 437–442 (1974).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  31. 31.

    Emmanoulopoulos, D., McHardy, I. M. & Papadakis, I. E. Generating artificial light curves: revisited and updated. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 433, 907–927 (2013).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  32. 32.

    Iwasawa, K., Miniutti, G. & Fabian, A. C. Flux and energy modulation of redshifted iron emission in NGC 3516: implications for the black hole mass. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 355, 1073–1079 (2004).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  33. 33.

    Narayan, R. & Quataert, E. Black hole accretion. Science 307, 77 (2005).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  34. 34.

    Huang, Y.-K. et al. Reverberation mapping of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy I Zwicky 1: black hole mass. Astrophys. J. 876, 102 (2019).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  35. 35.

    Vestergaard, M. & Peterson, B. M. Determining central black hole masses in distant active galaxies and quasars. II. Improved optical and UV scaling relationships. Astrophys. J. 641, 689–709 (2006).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  36. 36.

    Collin, S., Kawaguchi, T., Peterson, B. M. & Vestergaard, M. Systematic effects in measurement of black hole masses by emission-line reverberation of active galactic nuclei: Eddington ratio and inclination. Astron. Astrophys. 456, 75–90 (2006).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NASA NuSTAR and XMM-Newton Guest Observer programmes under grants 80NSSC20K0041 and 80NSSC20K0838. D.R.W. received additional support from a Kavli Fellowship at Stanford University. W.N.B. acknowledges support from the V. M. Willaman Endowment. Computing for this project was performed on the Sherlock cluster. D.R.W. thanks Stanford University and the Stanford Research Computing Center for providing computational resources and support.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    D. R. Wilkins & R. D. Blandford

  2. Department of Astronomy and Physics, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    L. C. Gallo

  3. SRON, Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    E. Costantini

  4. Anton Pannekoeck Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    E. Costantini

  5. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    W. N. Brandt

  6. Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    W. N. Brandt

  7. Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    W. N. Brandt

Authors
  1. D. R. Wilkins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. C. Gallo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. E. Costantini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. W. N. Brandt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. R. D. Blandford
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

D.R.W. performed the data analysis and reverberation modelling. L.C.G. contributed to the analysis of the XMM-Newton spectra. W.N.B., E.C. and R.D.B. contributed to the interpretation and discussion of the results.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. R. Wilkins.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Nature thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Peer reviewer reports are available.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Fig. 1 The X-ray spectrum of I Zw 1.

a, The soft and hard X-ray spectra of I Zw 1 obtained by XMM-Newton and NuSTAR during the 2020 observations, fitted with a model describing the emission in the 3–50-keV band as the combination of directly observed continuum emission and its reflection from the disk, described by relxill. b, Ratio of the X-ray spectrum in the 3–78-keV energy range measured with NuSTAR to the best-fitting power-law continuum model, showing the residual features that arise because of the X-rays reflected from the inner accretion disk: the broad iron K line (around 6.4 keV) with redshifted wing, and the Compton hump centred at 25 keV. Error bars represent 1σ uncertainties due to Poisson noise.

Extended Data Fig. 2 The relative response times of the X-ray emission at different energies to variations in luminosity.

The time lag is computed from the cross-spectrum, averaged over Fourier frequency components from 5× 10−4 to 7 × 10−4 Hz from all XMM-Newton observations of I Zw 1 between 2002 and 2020. The lag versus energy spectrum shows the delay of the response of the iron K line and soft X-ray excess, which reverberate from the accretion disk, with respect to the continuum, which is most dominant in the 1–2-keV energy band. Error bars show the 1σ confidence interval.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Detection of short peaks in the X-ray light curves.

a, The raw light curves obtained from the XMM-Newton EPIC pn camera in the 3–5-keV, 5–7-keV and 6–8-keV energy bands, in 100-s time bins. The blue line shows the smoothed light-curve model with respect to which the significance of short peaks is assessed. The panel beneath each light curve shows the reduction in the χ2 statistic over this model, when a short Gaussian peak is added in different time bins with different normalization. Shaded regions correspond to 1σ (blue), 2σ (yellow) and 3σ (red) detections. The bottom panel shows the maximum reduction in χ2 when a flare is added in each time bin. The peaks of interest that are offset between the bands appear at 6.8 ks and 18.8 ks. b, The same, with light curves in each energy band summed between the first and second flare, aligning the 3–5-keV peaks at 6.8 ks and 18.8 ks.

Extended Data Fig. 4 The coherence between the 3–5-keV and 1–3-keV light curves.

The coherence describes the fraction of the variability in each light curve, at different Fourier frequencies, that can be predicted based on a linear transformation (for example the reverberation response) of the variability in the other light curve. The observed coherence is compared with predictions of pairs of random, red noise light curves between which a fraction u of variability is uncorrelated. Much of the drop in coherence at high frequencies is due to Poisson noise, and the high values of the coherence measured at low frequencies set tight constraints on the level of uncorrelated variability that can exist between the light curves that is not due to Poisson noise.

Extended Data Table 1 Parameters of the X-ray continuum and reflection from the accretion disk
Full size table

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

This file contains alternative explanations for the short-timescale variability and notes regarding the mass of the black hole.

Peer Review File

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wilkins, D.R., Gallo, L.C., Costantini, E. et al. Light bending and X-ray echoes from behind a supermassive black hole. Nature 595, 657–660 (2021). https://ift.tt/3zKkhPf

Download citation

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Adblock test (Why?)



"light" - Google News
July 28, 2021 at 10:26PM
https://ift.tt/3f2KKzW

Light bending and X-ray echoes from behind a supermassive black hole - Nature.com
"light" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Wm8QLw
https://ift.tt/2Stbv5k

Bagikan Berita Ini

0 Response to "Light bending and X-ray echoes from behind a supermassive black hole - Nature.com"

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Powered by Blogger.