NuSTAR's Role in Constraining Black Hole Spin in AGN

Details NuSTAR's Role in Constraining Black Hole Spin in AGN NuSTAR's Role in Constraining Black Hole Spin in AGN

Jan 2012

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012aas...21914005b&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #219, #140.05

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

The angular momentum of a supermassive black hole (SMBH) can have profound effects on the inflow and outflow of matter and energy from the active galactic nucleus (AGN) in which it resides, consequently influencing the evolution of its host galaxy on larger scales as well. The science of measuring black hole spin is in its infancy, however; only within the last decade has the combination of fully relativistic models and space-based X-ray detectors with both high effective area and spectral resolution enabled the first robust estimates of black hole spin in SMBHs. Though spin measurements have been published for eight bright, nearby AGN, there is debate in the community about the accuracy of these constraints. At the core of this debate is the uncertainty involved in modeling the X-ray continuum, including the complex absorption intrinsic to many AGN. Broad band, high resolution X-ray spectra are needed to break the degeneracy between differing models and isolate the signatures of inner disk reflection that are the foundation of black hole spin measurements. The launch of NuSTAR in February 2012 will allow the hard X-ray emission from 5-80 keV to be observed with unprecedented spectral resolution and signal-to-noise (s/n). Simultaneous NuSTAR/XMM-Newton and/or NuSTAR/Suzaku observations of bright AGN will provide the broad band, high s/n spectra necessary to break the degeneracy between different continuum models, thereby enabling the most precise, accurate constraints on black hole spin ever achieved for these sources.

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