Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2006-10-19
Astron.Nachr.327:1039-1042,2006
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Astrononomische Nachrichten
Scientific paper
10.1002/asna.200610641
We report on the iron K-alpha line properties of a sample of Seyfert galaxies observed with the XMM-Newton EPIC pn instrument. Using a systematic and uniform analysis, we find that complexity at iron-K is extremely common in the XMM spectra. Once appropriate soft X-ray absorption, narrow 6.4 keV emission and associated Compton reflection are accounted for, ~75 of the sample show an improvement when a further Gaussian component is introduced. The typical properties of the broad emission are both qualitatively and quantitatively consistent with previous results from ASCA. The complexity is in general very well described by relativistic accretion disk models. In most cases the characteristic emission radius is constrained to be within ~50 R_g, where strong gravitational effects become important. We find in about 1/3 of the sample the accretion disk interpretation is strongly favoured over competing models. In a few objects no broad line is apparent. We find evidence for emission within 6 R_g in only two cases, both of which exhibit highly complex absorption. Evidence for black hole spin based on the X-ray spectra therefore remains tentative.
George Ian Michael
Nandra Kirpal
O'Neill Paul M.
Reeves James N.
Turner Tracey Jane
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