A CANDIDATE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS WITH A PURE SOFT THERMAL X-RAY SPECTRUM
- Department of Physics, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime 790-8577 (Japan)
- Department of Electronic Information Systems, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Saitama, Saitama 337-8570 (Japan)
- Department of Astronomy, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan)
We report the discovery of a candidate active galactic nucleus (AGN), 2XMM J123103.2+110648 at z = 0.13, with an X-ray spectrum represented purely by soft thermal emission reminiscent of Galactic black hole (BH) binaries in the disk-dominated state. This object was found in the second XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalog as a highly variable X-ray source. In three separate observations, its X-ray spectrum can be represented either by a multicolor disk blackbody model with an inner temperature of kT{sub in} Almost-Equal-To 0.16-0.21 keV or a Wien spectrum Comptonized by an optically thick plasma with kT Almost-Equal-To 0.14-0.18 keV. The soft X-ray luminosity in the 0.5-2 keV band is estimated to be (1.6-3.8) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 42} erg s{sup -1}. Hard emission above {approx}2 keV is not detected. The ratio of the soft to hard emission is the strongest among AGNs observed thus far. Spectra selected in high/low-flux time intervals are examined in order to study spectral variability. In the second observation with the highest signal-to-noise ratio, the low-energy (below 0.7 keV) spectral regime flattens when the flux is high, while the shape of the high-energy part (1-1.7 keV) remains unchanged. This behavior is qualitatively consistent with being caused by strong Comptonization. Both the strong soft excess and spectral change consistent with Comptonization in the X-ray spectrum imply that the Eddington ratio is large, which requires a small BH mass (smaller than {approx}10{sup 5} M{sub Sun }).
- OSTI ID:
- 22036979
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 752, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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