In many active galaxies, the X-ray reflection features from the innermost regions of the accretion disc are relativistically distorted. This distortion allows us to measure parameters of the black ...hole such as its spin. The ratio in flux between the direct and the reflected radiation, the so-called reflection fraction, is determined directly from the geometry and location of primary source of radiation. We calculate the reflection fraction in the lamp post geometry in order to determine its maximal possible value for a given value of black hole spin. We show that high reflection fractions in excess of two are only possible for rapidly rotating black holes, suggesting that the high spin sources produce the strongest relativistic reflection features. Using simulations we show that taking this constraint into account does significantly improve the determination of the spin values. We make software routines for the most popular X-ray data analysis packages available that incorporate these additional constraints.
X-ray reflection models are used to constrain the properties of the accretion disk, such as the degree of ionization of the gas and the elemental abundances. To overcome this simplification, we have ...constructed an angle-dependent reflection model with the XILLVER code and self-consistently connected it with the relativistic blurring code RELLINE. The new model, relxill, calculates the proper emission angle of the radiation at each point on the accretion disk and then takes the corresponding reflection spectrum into account. We show that the reflected spectra from illuminated disks follow a limb-brightening law highly dependent on the ionization of disk and yet different from the commonly assumed form I is proportional to ln(1 + 1/ mu ). The fit of the new model to the Suzaku observation of the Seyfert galaxy Ark 120 clearly shows a significant improvement in the constraint of the physical parameters, in particular by enhancing the accuracy in the inclination angle and the spin determinations.
Cyclotron lines, also called cyclotron resonant scattering features are spectral features, generally appearing in absorption, in the X-ray spectra of objects containing highly magnetized neutron ...stars, allowing the direct measurement of the magnetic field strength in these objects. Cyclotron features are thought to be due to resonant scattering of photons by electrons in the strong magnetic fields. The main content of this contribution focusses on electron cyclotron lines as found in accreting X-ray binary pulsars (XRBP) with magnetic fields on the order of several 1012 Gauss. Also, possible proton cyclotron lines from single neutron stars with even stronger magnetic fields are briefly discussed. With regard to electron cyclotron lines, we present an updated list of XRBPs that show evidence of such absorption lines. The first such line was discovered in a 1976 balloon observation of the accreting binary pulsar Hercules X-1, it is considered to be the first direct measurement of the magnetic field of a neutron star. As of today (end 2018), we list 35 XRBPs showing evidence of one ore more electron cyclotron absorption line(s). A few have been measured only once and must be confirmed (several more objects are listed as candidates). In addition to the Tables of objects, we summarize the evidence of variability of the cyclotron line as a function of various parameters (especially pulse phase, luminosity and time), and add a discussion of the different observed phenomena and associated attempts of theoretical modeling. We also discuss our understanding of the underlying physics of accretion onto highly magnetized neutron stars. For proton cyclotron lines, we present tables with seven neutron stars and discuss their nature and the physics in these objects.
The halo of the Milky Way provides a laboratory to study the properties of the shocked hot gas that is predicted by models of galaxy formation. There is observational evidence of energy injection ...into the halo from past activity in the nucleus of the Milky Way
; however, the origin of this energy (star formation or supermassive-black-hole activity) is uncertain, and the causal connection between nuclear structures and large-scale features has not been established unequivocally. Here we report soft-X-ray-emitting bubbles that extend approximately 14 kiloparsecs above and below the Galactic centre and include a structure in the southern sky analogous to the North Polar Spur. The sharp boundaries of these bubbles trace collisionless and non-radiative shocks, and corroborate the idea that the bubbles are not a remnant of a local supernova
but part of a vast Galaxy-scale structure closely related to features seen in γ-rays
. Large energy injections from the Galactic centre
are the most likely cause of both the γ-ray and X-ray bubbles. The latter have an estimated energy of around 10
erg, which is sufficient to perturb the structure, energy content and chemical enrichment of the circumgalactic medium of the Milky Way.
We present an extended scheme for the calculation of the profiles of emission lines from accretion discs around rotating black holes. The scheme includes discs with angular momenta which are parallel ...and antiparallel with respect to the black hole's angular momentum, as both configurations are assumed to be stable. We discuss line shapes for such discs and present a code for modelling observational data with this scheme in X-ray data analysis programs. Based on a Green's function approach, an arbitrary radius dependence of the disc emissivity and arbitrary limb-darkening laws can be easily taken into account, while the amount of pre-computed data is significantly reduced with respect to other available models.
The objective of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the accuracy of fecal consistency scoring as a measure of fecal dry matter (DM) in dairy calves. This study was conducted at a commercial ...grain-fed veal facility in southwestern Ontario. A total of 160 calves arrived at the facility in 2 groups of 80 calves each. Calves were fed milk replacer twice daily at 0700 and 1700 h and had ad libitum access from arrival onward to water through nipple drinkers and starter through a shared trough. Fecal consistency scores were evaluated once daily in the first 28 d after arrival before milk feeding. The fecal consistency scoring was conducted using a 4-level scoring scale: 0 = normal (firm but not hard); 1 = soft (does not hold form, piles but spreads slightly); 2 = runny (spreads readily); and 3 = watery (liquid consistency, splatters). Fecal samples were collected from all calves via rectal palpation on d 1, 7, 14, and 21 at 0900 h for determination of fecal DM. Mixed repeated measures linear regression models were built to assess the accuracy of fecal consistency scoring in predicting fecal DM. Over 4 selected time points (d 1, 7, 14, and 21) the 160 calves were observed, 382 (61.6%) had a fecal consistency score of 0, 121 (19.5%) had a score of 1, 85 (13.7%) had a score of 2, and 32 (5.2%) had a score of 3. A fecal score of 0 had a fecal DM of 25.1 ± 8.4%, whereas a fecal score of 1 had a DM of 21.8 ± 8.2%. With respect to calves that had a fecal score of 2 or 3, their fecal DM was 16.0 ± 11.1% and 10.7 ± 6.9%, respectively. In evaluating the pairwise comparisons generated in the repeated measures model that controlled for day of sampling, a fecal score of 0 had a 3.2%, 8.1%, and 12.0% higher fecal DM, respectively, when compared with those that had a fecal score of 1, 2, and 3. In addition, calves with a fecal score of 1 had a 5.0% and 8.8% higher fecal DM than calves with a fecal score of 2 and 3, respectively. Finally, calves with a fecal score of 2 had a 3.8% higher fecal DM than those with a fecal score of 3. This study confirms that using observational fecal consistency scoring can accurately predict diarrhea or a decline in fecal DM.
Aims. The only relativistic reflection model that implements a parameter relating the intensity incident on an accretion disk to the observed intensity is relxill. The parameter used in earlier ...versions of this model, referred to as the reflection strength, is unsatisfactory; it has been superseded by a parameter that provides insight into the accretion geometry, namely the reflection fraction. The reflection fraction is defined as the ratio of the coronal intensity illuminating the disk to the coronal intensity that reaches the observer. Methods. The relxill model combines a general relativistic ray-tracing code and a photoionization code to compute the component of radiation reflected from an accretion that is illuminated by an external source. The reflection fraction is a particularly important parameter for relativistic models with well-defined geometry, such as the lamp post model, which is a focus of this paper. Results. Relativistic spectra are compared for three inclinations and for four values of the key parameter of the lamp post model,namely the height above the black hole of the illuminating, on-axis point source. In all cases, the strongest reflection is produced for low source heights and high spin. A low-spin black hole is shown to be incapable of producing enhanced relativistic reflection. Results for the relxill model are compared to those obtained with other models and a Monte Carlo simulation. Conclusions. Fitting data by using the relxill model and the recently implemented reflection fraction, the geometry of a system can be constrained. The reflection-fraction is independent of system parameters such as inclination and black hole spin. The reflection-fraction parameter was implemented with the name reflec_frac all flavours of the relxill model, and the non-relativistic reflection model xillver, in v0.4a (18 January 2016).
Small angle scattering by dust grains causes a significant contribution to the total interstellar extinction for any X-ray instrument with sub-arcminute resolution (Chandra, Swift, XMM–Newton). ...However, the dust-scattering component is not included in the current absorption models: phabs, TBabs, and TBnew. We simulate a large number of Chandra spectra to explore the bias in the spectral fit and N
H measurements obtained without including extinction from dust scattering. We find that without incorporating dust scattering, the measured N
H will be too large by a baseline level of 25 per cent. This effect is modulated by the imaging resolution of the telescope, because some amount of unresolved scattered light will be captured within the aperture used to extract point source information. In high-resolution spectroscopy, dust scattering significantly enhances the total extinction optical depth and the shape of the photoelectric absorption edges. We focus in particular on the Fe–L edge at 0.7 keV, showing that the total extinction template fits well to the high-resolution spectrum of three X-ray binaries from the Chandra archive: GX 9+9, XTE J1817-330, and Cyg X-1. In cases where dust is intrinsic to the source, a covering factor based on the angular extent of the dusty material must be applied to the extinction curve, regardless of angular imaging resolution. This approach will be particularly relevant for dust in quasar absorption line systems and might constrain clump sizes in active galactic nuclei.
ABSTRACT
We study the effect of returning radiation on the shape of the X-ray reflection spectrum in the case of thin accretion discs. We show that the returning radiation mainly influences the ...observed reflection spectrum for a large black hole spin (a > 0.9) and a compact primary source of radiation close to the black hole at height h < 5rg, and that it dominates the reflected flux for extreme values of spin and compactness. The main effect of the returning radiation is to increase the irradiating flux on to the outer parts of the accretion disc, leading to stronger reflection and a flatter overall emissivity profile. By analysing simulated observations we show that neglecting returning radiation in existing studies of reflection-dominated sources has likely resulted in overestimating the height of the corona above the black hole. An updated version of the publicly available relxill suite of relativistic reflection models which includes returning radiation is also presented.
We present a new and complete library of synthetic spectra for modeling the component of emission that is reflected from an illuminated accretion disk. The spectra were computed using an updated ...version of our code xillver that incorporates new routines and a richer atomic database. We offer in the form of a table model an extensive grid of reflection models that cover a wide range of parameters. Each individual model is characterized by the photon index F of the illuminating radiation, the ionization parameter xi at the surface of the disk (i.e., the ratio of the X-ray flux to the gas density), and the iron abundance A sub(Fe) relative to the solar value. The ranges of the parameters covered are 1.2 < or =, slant Gamma < or =, slant 3.4, 1 < or =, slant xi < or =, slant 10 super(4), and 0.5 < or =, slant A sub(Fe) < or =, slant 10. These ranges capture the physical conditions typically inferred from observations of active galactic nuclei, and also stellar-mass black holes in the hard state. This library is intended for use when the thermal disk flux is faint compared to the incident power-law flux. The models are expected to provide an accurate description of the Fe K emission line, which is the crucial spectral feature used to measure black hole spin. A total of 720 reflection spectra are provided in a single FITS file (http://hea-www.cfa.harvard.edu/~javier/xillver/) suitable for the analysis of X-ray observations via the atable model in XSPEC. Detailed comparisons with previous reflection models illustrate the improvements incorporated in this version of XILLVER.
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