ON ESTIMATING THE HIGH-ENERGY CUTOFF IN THE X-RAY SPECTRA OF BLACK HOLES VIA REFLECTION SPECTROSCOPY
Garcia JA, Dauser T, Steiner JF, McClintock JE, Keck ML, Wilms J (2015)
Publication Status: Published
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2015
Journal
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Book Volume: 808
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/808/2/L37
Abstract
The fundamental parameters describing the coronal spectrum of an accreting black hole are the slope Gamma of the power-law continuum and the energy E-cut at which it rolls over. Remarkably, this latter parameter can be accurately measured for values as high as 1 MeV by modeling the spectrum of X-rays reflected from a black hole accretion disk at energies below 100 keV. This is possible because the details in the reflection spectrum, rich in fluorescent lines and other atomic features, are very sensitive to the spectral shape of the hardest coronal radiation illuminating the disk. We show that by fitting simultaneous NuSTAR (3-79 keV) and low-energy (e.g., Suzaku) data with the most recent version of our reflection model relxill one can obtain reasonable constraints on E-cut at energies from tens of keV up to 1 MeV, for a source as faint as 1 mCrab in a 100 ks observation.
Authors with CRIS profile
Thomas Dauser
Dr.Karl-Remeis-Sternwarte Bamberg, Astronomisches Institut
Jörn Wilms
Professur für Astronomie und Astrophysik
Involved external institutions
United States (USA) (US)How to cite
APA:
Garcia, J.A., Dauser, T., Steiner, J.F., McClintock, J.E., Keck, M.L., & Wilms, J. (2015). ON ESTIMATING THE HIGH-ENERGY CUTOFF IN THE X-RAY SPECTRA OF BLACK HOLES VIA REFLECTION SPECTROSCOPY. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 808. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/808/2/L37
MLA:
Garcia, Javier A., et al. "ON ESTIMATING THE HIGH-ENERGY CUTOFF IN THE X-RAY SPECTRA OF BLACK HOLES VIA REFLECTION SPECTROSCOPY." Astrophysical Journal Letters 808 (2015).
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