2001/01/31 by Julia C. Lee, J. C. Lee, P. Ogle +10 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/320912
published as ApJ., 554, L13 (2001) · 4.5 pages, 1 color figure, accepted (April 2001) for publication in ApJL, not many changes from the initial submission - updated/added some measuements for the O VII resonance series, and added a discussion about FeO2 grains
arxiv created 2001/04/13 · openalex publication_date 2001/06/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
We present detailed evidence for a warm absorber in the Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG -6-30-15 and dispute earlier claims for relativistic O line emission. The High-Energy Transmission Grating spectra show numerous narrow, unresolved (FWHM ≲ 200 km s -1 ) absorption lines from a wide range of ionization states of N, O, Mg, Ne, Si, S, Ar, and Fe. The O VII edge and the 1 s 2 -1 snp resonance line series to n = 9 are clearly detected at rest in the active galactic nucleus frame. We attribute previous reports of an apparently highly redshifted O VII edge to the 1 s 2 -1 snp ( n > 5) O VII resonance lines and a neutral Fe L absorption complex. The shape of the Fe L feature is nearly identical to that seen in the spectra of several X-ray binaries and in laboratory data. The implied dust column density agrees with that obtained from reddening studies and gives the first direct X-ray evidence for dust embedded in a warm absorber. The O VIII resonance lines and the weak edge are also detected, and the spectral rollover below ~2 keV is explained by the superposition of numerous absorption lines and edges. We identify, for the first time, a KLL resonance in the O VI photoabsorption cross section, giving a measure of the O VI column density. The O VII ( f ) emission detected at the systemic velocity implies a covering fraction of ~5% (depending on the observed vs. time-averaged ionizing flux). Our observations show that a dusty warm absorber model is not only adequate to explain all the spectral features ≳0.48 keV (≲26 Å) but that the data require it. This contradicts the interpretation of Branduardi-Raymont and coworkers that this spectral region is dominated by highly relativistic line emission from the vicinity of the black hole.