Related papers: XMM-Newton and Broad Iron Lines
Accreting black holes show characteristic reflection features in their X-ray spectrum, including an iron K$\alpha$ line, resulting from hard X-ray continuum photons illuminating the accretion disk. The reverberation lag resulting from the…
We analyzed simultaneous archival XMM-Newton and RXTE observations of the X-ray binary and black hole candidate Swift J1753.5-0127. In a previous analysis of the same data a soft thermal component was found in the X-ray spectrum, and the…
The X-ray emission from accreting black hole (BH) systems displays strong variability. Short reverberation lags are expected between the primary hard X-ray continuum and the reprocessed disc emission. These lags depend on light-travel…
Results are presented from a 500ks long XMM-Newton observation of the Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxy IRAS13224-3809. The source is rapidly variable on timescales down to a few 100s. The spectrum shows strong broad Fe-K and L emission features…
Blurred reflection features are commonly observed in the X-ray spectra of accreting black holes. In the presence of high-quality data and with the correct astrophysical model, X-ray reflection spectroscopy is a powerful tool to probe the…
Luminous accreting stellar mass and supermassive black holes produce power-law continuum X-ray emission from a compact central corona. Reverberation time lags occur due to light travel time-delays between changes in the direct coronal…
We use a 380 ks XMM-Newton high-resolution RGS spectrum to look for narrow spectral features from the nuclear environment of 1H0707-495. We do not find any evidence of a line-of-sight ionized wind (warm absorber). We do, however, detect…
Accreting black holes show characteristic 'reflection' features in their X-ray spectra, including the iron K$\alpha$ fluorescence line, which result from X-rays radiated by a compact central corona being reprocessed in the accretion disc…
Transient spectral features have been discovered in the X-ray spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei, mostly in the 5--7 keV energy range. Several interpretations were proposed for the origin of these features. We examined a model of Doppler…
We discuss constraints on black hole spin and spin-related astrophysics as derived from X-ray spectroscopy. After a brief discussion about the robustness with which X-ray spectroscopy can be used to probe strong gravity, we summarize how…
We present a uniform X-ray spectral analysis of eight type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) that have been previously observed with relativistically broadened iron emission lines. Utilizing data from the XMM-Newton European Photon Imaging…
Most black hole binaries show large changes in X-ray luminosity caused primarily by variations in mass accretion rate. An important question for understanding black hole accretion and jet production is whether the inner edge of the…
X-ray reverberation, where light-travel time delays map out the compact geometry around the inner accretion flow in supermassive black holes, has been discovered in several of the brightest, most variable and well-known Seyfert galaxies. In…
We used six simultaneous XMM-Newton and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer plus five Suzaku observations to study the continuum spectrum and the iron emission line in the neutron-star low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636-53. We modelled the spectra with…
Understanding the dynamics behind black hole state transitions and the changes they reflect in outbursts has become long-standing problem. The X-ray reflection spectrum describes the interaction between the hard X-ray source (the power-law…
The reflection spectrum produced by a cold medium illuminated by X-ray photons is not isotropic and its shape depends on the emission angle. In the reflection spectrum of an accretion disk of a black hole, the value of the emission angle…
Flux variability is a remarkable property of black hole (BH) accreting systems, and a powerful tool to investigate the multi-scale structure of the accretion flow. The X-ray band is where some of the most rapid variations occur, pointing to…
We study correlations betwen X-ray spectral index, strength of Compton reflection, and X-ray and radio fluxes in accreting black holes (Seyferts and black-hole binaries). We critically evaluate the evidence for the correlation of the X-ray…
[abridged] We model the X-ray reprocessing from a strong co-rotating flare above an accretion disk in active galactic nuclei. We explore the horizontal structure and evolution of the underlying hot spot. To obtain the spectral evolution…
Accreting black holes are believed to emit X-rays which then mediate information about strong gravity in the vicinity of the emission region. We report on a set of new routines for the Xspec package for analysing X-ray spectra of black-hole…