The broad iron Kα line of Cygnus X-1 as seen by XMM-Newton in the EPIC-pn modified timing mode

Thumbnail Image

Files

aa17446-11.pdf (292.36 KB)

Links to Files

https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2011/09/aa17446-11/aa17446-11.html

Permanent Link

https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201117446
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/29801

Collections

UMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology (CSST) / Center for Research and Exploration in Space Sciences & Technology II (CRSST II)
UMBC Faculty Collection
UMBC Physics Department

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4656-6881

Date

2011-08-19

Type of Work

journal articles
Text

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Duro, R., T. Dauser, J. Wilms, K. Pottschmidt, M. A. Nowak, S. Fritz, E. Kendziorra, M. G. F. Kirsch, C. S. Reynolds, and R. Staubert. “The Broad Iron Kα Line of Cygnus X-1 as Seen by XMM-Newton in the EPIC-Pn Modified Timing Mode.” Astronomy & Astrophysics 533 (September 1, 2011): L3. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201117446.

Rights

This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Subjects

Abstract

We present the analysis of the broadened, flourescent iron Kα line in simultaneous XMM-Newton and RXTE data from the black hole Cygnus X-1. The XMM-Newton data were taken in a modified version of the timing mode of the EPIC-pn camera. In this mode the lower energy threshold of the instrument is increased to 2.8 keV to avoid telemetry drop outs due to the brightness of the source, while at the same time preserving the signal-to-noise ratio in the Fe Kα band. We find that the best-fit spectrum consists of the sum of an exponentially cutoff power-law and relativistically smeared, ionized reflection. The shape of the broadened Fe Kα feature is due to strong Compton broadening combined with relativistic broadening. Assuming a standard, thin accretion disk, the black hole is close to rotating maximally.