Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Mar 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001stin...0209113p&link_type=abstract
Technical Report, DE2001-776173; LA-UR-01-1415
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Accretion Disks, Black Holes (Astronomy), Edges, Kinematics, Seyfert Galaxies, X Ray Astronomy, Iron, Position (Location), Radii
Scientific paper
The observed iron K(alpha) fluorescence lines in Seyfert 1 galaxies provide strong evidence for an accretion disk near a supermassive black hole as a source of the emission. Here we present an analysis of the geometrical and kinematic properties of the disk based on the extreme frequency shifts of a line profile as determined by measurable flux in both the red and blue wings. The edges of the line are insensitive to the distribution of the X-ray flux over the disk, and hence provide a robust alternative to profile fitting of disk parameters. Our approach yields new, strong bounds on the inclination angle of the disk and the location of the emitting region. We apply our method to interpret observational data from MCG-6-30-15 and find that the commonly assumed inclination 30 deg for the accretion disk in MCG-6-30-15 is inconsistent with the position of the blue edge of the line at a 3(sigma) level. A thick turbulent disk model or the presence of highly ionized iron may reconcile the bounds on inclination from the line edges with the full line profile fits based on simple, geometrically thin disk models. The bounds on the innermost radius of disk emission indicate that the black hole in MCG-6-30-15 is rotating faster than 30% of theoretical maximum. When applied to data from NGC 4151, our method gives bounds on the inclination angle of the X-ray emitting inner disk of 50 +/- 10 deg, consistent with the presence of an ionization cone grazing the disk as proposed by Pedlar et al. The frequency extrema analysis also provides limits to the innermost disk radius in another Seyfert 1 galaxy, NGC 3516, and is suggestive of a thick disk model.
Bromley Benjamin
Miller Warner
Pariev Vladimir
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