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  • Broad line emission from ir...
    Caballero-Garcia, M. D; Young, A. J; Uttley, P; Miller, J. M; Miniutti, G; Boller, T; Reynolds, C. S; Fabian, A. C; Ross, R. R; Tanaka, Y; Larsson, J; Ponti, G; Brandt, W. N; Gallo, L. C; Reis, R. C; Blustin, A. J; Zoghbi, A

    Nature, 05/2009, Letnik: 459, Številka: 7246
    Journal Article

    Since the 1995 discovery of the broad iron K-line emission from the Seyfert galaxy MCG-6-30-15 (ref. 1), broad iron K lines have been found in emission from several other Seyfert galaxies, from accreting stellar-mass black holes and even from accreting neutron stars. The iron K line is prominent in the reflection spectrum created by the hard-X-ray continuum irradiating dense accreting matter. Relativistic distortion of the line makes it sensitive to the strong gravity and spin of the black hole. The accompanying iron L-line emission should be detectable when the iron abundance is high. Here we report the presence of both iron K and iron L emission in the spectrum of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0707-495. The bright iron L emission has enabled us to detect a reverberation lag of about 30 s between the direct X-ray continuum and its reflection from matter falling into the black hole. The observed reverberation timescale is comparable to the light-crossing time of the innermost radii around a supermassive black hole. The combination of spectral and timing data on 1H 0707-495 provides strong evidence that we are witnessing emission from matter within a gravitational radius, or a fraction of a light minute, from the event horizon of a rapidly spinning, massive black hole.