A high-velocity ionized outflow and XUV photosphere in the narrow emission line quasar PG1211+143

Abstract

We report on the analysis of a ∼60‐ks XMM–Newton observation of the bright, narrow emission line quasar PG1211+143. Absorption lines are seen in both European Photon Imaging Camera and Reflection Grating Spectrometer spectra corresponding to H‐ and He‐like ions of Fe, S, Mg, Ne, O, N and C. The observed line energies indicate an ionized outflow velocity of ∼24 000 km s−1. The highest energy lines require a column density of NH∼ 5 × 1023 cm−2, at an ionization parameter of log ξ∼ 3.4. If the origin of this high‐velocity outflow lies in matter being driven from the inner disc, then the flow is likely to be optically thick within a radius of ∼130 Schwarzschild radii, providing a natural explanation for the big blue bump (and strong soft X‐ray) emission in PG1211+143.

The jet feedback mechanism (JFM) in stars, galaxies and clusters

“…In addition to the evidence in the visible and UV bands for slow-massive-wide outflows from AGN discussed in section 4.2 (e.g., Zakamska et al 2016), there are indications in the X-ray band for sub-relativistic and relatively massive outflows from AGN (e.g., Behar et al 2003;Pounds et al 2003;Tombesi et al 2010;Chartas et al 2016). Such outflows can efficiently interact and influence the ambient gas (section 4.3), in particular via the inflation of hot low density bubbles.…”

X-ray timing analysis of the quasar PG 1211+143

“…Here, we apply timing techniques to PG 1211+143, a luminous narrow-line Seyfert galaxy / quasar at a redshift of z = 0.0809 (Marziani et al 1996) which is optically bright with a strong "Big Blue Bump" and also X-ray bright with a typical X-ray luminosity of ∼10 44 erg s −1 (L bol ∼ 5 × 10 45 erg s −1 ; Pounds et al 2003). The source is well-known for its spectral complexity.…”

“…In particular, it is the archetypal example example of an AGN exhibiting an ultra-fast outflow whose mass flux and energetics may be comparable to the mass accretion rate and bolometric luminosity and so important for galaxy feedback (Pounds et al 2003;Pounds & Reeves 2009). Observations with XMM-Newton have shown the outflow to have a sub-relativistic velocity lying in the region of v ∼0.09-0.14c (Pounds et al 2003;Pounds & Page 2006;Pounds et al 2015a). Here, we investigate the power spectrum, the rms spectrum and optical/UV/X-ray correlations through a new ∼630 ks XMM-Newton plus ∼2-month-long Swift campaign of PG 1211+143.…”

Searching for Black Holes in Space

“…Finally, as discussed elsewhere at this Workshop, highly ionised outflows with velocities ∼0.1-0.2c were detected in X-ray spectra of non-BAL AGN a decade ago (Pounds et al 2003. Subsequent observations (Cappi 2006) and searches of the XMMNewton (Tombesi et al , 2011 and Suzaku (Gofford et al 2013) data archives have shown such ultra-fast outflows to be a common feature of luminous AGN, indicating that powerful black hole winds are likely to have a wider importance in galaxy feedback models.…”