Related papers: Strong gravity effects: X-ray spectra, variability…
Radio and X-ray fluxes of accreting black holes in their hard state are known to correlate over several orders of magnitude. This correlation however shows a large scatter: black hole candidates with very similar X-ray luminosity, spectral…
We performed detailed calculations of the relativistic effects acting on both the reflection continuum and the iron line from accretion discs around rotating black holes. Fully relativistic transfer of both illuminating and reprocessed…
The X-ray emission from accreting black-holes and neutron stars features strong variability on sub-second time scales, with very complex and broad phenomenology. From high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations to rapidly changing X-ray…
In X-ray spectra of several active galactic nuclei and Galactic black hole binaries a broad relativistically smeared iron line is observed. This feature arises by fluorescence when the accretion disc is illuminated by hot corona above it.…
Most accreting black holes emit a substantial fraction of their luminosity in hard X-rays/soft $\gamma$-rays of up to $\sim{\rm few}\times100$ keV. The observations suggest that the radiating gas is very hot, $T>10^9$ K, and optically thin.…
This paper employs direct spectral fitting of individual orbital data in order to measure rapid X-ray iron K_alpha line and continuum spectral slope variations in Seyfert 1 galaxies with unprecedented temporal resolution. Application of…
We study light curves and spectra (equivalent widths of the iron line and some other spectral characteristics) which arise by reflection on the surface of an accretion disc, following its illumination by a primary off-axis source - an X-ray…
The centre of our Milky Way harbours the closest candidate for a supermassive black hole. The source is thought to be powered by radiatively inefficient accretion of gas from its environment. This form of accretion is a standard mode of…
Observations of Galactic black hole sources are traditionally done in the classical X-ray range (2 -- 10 keV) due to sensitivity constraints. Most of the accretion power, however, is radiated above 10 keV and the study of these sources in…
The images of supermassive black holes surrounded by optically-thin, radiatively-inefficient accretion flows, like those observed with the Event Horizon Telescope, are characterized by a bright ring of emission surrounding the black-hole…
Here we present an overview of some of the most significant observational and theoretical studies of the broad Fe K{\alpha} spectral line, which is believed to originate from the innermost regions of relativistic accretion disks around…
X-ray reflection off the accretion disc surrounding a black hole, together with the associated broad iron K$\alpha$ line, has been widely used to constrain the innermost accretion-flow geometry and black hole spin. Some recent measurements…
Images of supermassive black holes produced using very long baseline interferometry provide a pathway to directly observing effects of a highly curved spacetime, such as a bright ``photon ring'' that arises from strongly lensed emission. In…
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…
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…
In extensions of general relativity and in theories aiming at unifying gravity with the forces of the Standard Model, the value of the "fundamental constants" is often determined by the vacuum expectation value of new fields, which may thus…
Reynolds & Begelman (1997) have recently proposed a model in which the broad and extremely redshifted iron line seen during a deep minimum of the light curve of the Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG-6-30-15 originates from matter spiralling into a…
I report the discovery of a prominent broad and asymmetrical feature near 6.4 keV in the Seyfert 1 MCG-02-14-009 (z=0.028) with XMM-Newton/EPIC. The present short X-ray observation (PN net exposure time ~5 ks) is the first one above 2 keV…
Observations of AGNs and microquasars by ASCA, RXTE, Chandra and XMM-Newton indicate the existence of wide X-ray emission lines of heavy ionized elements in their spectra. The emission can arise in the inner parts of accretion discs where…
We consider a temporal response of relativistically broadened line spectrum of iron from black hole accretion irradiated by an X-ray echo under strong gravity. The physical condition of accreting gas is numerically calculated in the context…