Broad line emission from iron K- and L-shell transitions in the active galaxy 1H 0707-495

A. C. Fabian (), A. Zoghbi, R. R. Ross, P. Uttley, L. C. Gallo, W. N. Brandt, A. J. Blustin, T. Boller, M. D. Caballero-Garcia, J. Larsson, J. M. Miller, G. Miniutti, G. Ponti, R. C. Reis, C. S. Reynolds, Y. Tanaka and A. J. Young
Additional contact information
A. C. Fabian: Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
A. Zoghbi: Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
R. R. Ross: College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610, USA
P. Uttley: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
L. C. Gallo: Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3C3, Canada
W. N. Brandt: The Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Lab, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
A. J. Blustin: Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
T. Boller: Max-Planck-Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik, Postfach 1312, 85741 Garching, Germany
M. D. Caballero-Garcia: Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
J. Larsson: Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
J. M. Miller: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
G. Miniutti: LAEX, Centro de Astrobiologia (CSIC–INTA), LAEFF, PO Box 78, Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid E-28691, Spain
G. Ponti: Laboratoire APC, UMR 7164, 10 rue A. Domon et L. Duquet, 75205 Paris, France
R. C. Reis: Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
C. S. Reynolds: University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
Y. Tanaka: Max-Planck-Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik, Postfach 1312, 85741 Garching, Germany
A. J. Young: H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK

Nature, 2009, vol. 459, issue 7246, 540-542

Abstract: L-line route to black holes The emission line arising from a transition of an electron from the iron K shell to the ground state (the K line) is prominent in the reflection spectrum of the hard X-ray continuum irradiating dense accreting matter around a black hole. The corresponding iron L-line emission should be detectable when iron abundance is high. That's the theory, and now broad iron L-line emission has been observed, together with the broad K line in the narrow-line Seyfert galaxy 1H0707. There is a reverberation lag of about 30 s between the direct X-ray continuum and its reflection from matter falling into the hole, a timescale comparable to the light-crossing time of the innermost radii around a supermassive black hole. This discovery opens a window on events close to the black hole event horizon in these objects.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08007

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