The changing X-ray time lag in MCG-6-30-15

Abstract

MCG-6-30-15 is one of the most observed Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies in the X-ray band. In this paper we examine the X-ray time lags in this source using a total of 600 ks in observations (440 ks exposure) taken with the XMM-Newton telescope (300 ks in 2001 and 300 ks in 2013). Both the old and new observations show the usual hard lag that increases with energy, however, the hard lag turns over to a soft lag at frequencies below ~1e-4 Hz. The highest frequencies (~1e-3 Hz) in this source show a clear soft lag, as previously presented for the first 300 ks observation, but no clear iron K lag is detected in either the old or new observation. The soft lag is more significant in the old observation than the new. The observations are consistent with a reverberation interpretation, where the soft, reflected emission is delayed with respect to the hard powerlaw component. These spectral timing results suggest that two distinct variability mechanisms are important in this source: intrinsic coronal variations (which lead to correlated variability in the reprocessed emission), and geometrical changes in the corona. Variability due to geometrical changes does not result in correlated variability in the reflection, and therefore inhibits the clear detection of an iron K lag.

arXiv commentResubmitted to MNRAS after minor corrections. 11 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (40)

• Constraining Black Hole Spin Via X-ray Spectroscopy
• A light bending model for the X-ray temporal and spectral properties of accreting black holes
• RXTE Observation of Cygnus X-1: II. Timing Analysis
• Non-linear X-ray variability in X-ray binaries and active galaxies
• Measuring the broadband power spectra of active galactic nuclei with RXTE
• Investigating a Fluctuating-accretion Model for the Spectral-timing Properties of Accreting Black Hole Systems
• On the X-ray time lags in the black hole candidates
• Discovery of a relation between black hole mass and soft X-ray time lags in active galactic nuclei
• X-Ray Variability Coherence: How to Compute it, What it Means, and How it Constrains Models of Cyg X-1 and GX 339-4
• The causal connection between disc and power-law variability in hard state black hole X-ray binaries
• The lack of variability of the iron line in MCG-6-30-15: general relativistic effects
• MCG-6-30-15: Long Timescale X-Ray Variability, Black Hole Mass and AGN High States
• Revealing the Dusty Warm Absorber in MCG--6-30-15 with the Chandra HETG
• A long, hard look at MCG-6-30-15 with XMM-Newton II: detailed EPIC analysis and modelling
• X-ray iron line reverberation from black hole accretion disks
• X-ray continuum variability of MCG-6-30-15
• The iron line in MCG-6-30-15 from XMM-Newton: evidence for gravitational light-bending?
• Relativistic iron K X-ray Reverberation in NGC 4151
• Accretion disc variability in the hard state of black hole X-ray binaries
• Discovery of multiple Lorentzian components in the X-ray timing properties of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Ark 564
• Modelling the broad Fe Kα reverberation in the AGN NGC 4151
• Discovery of high-frequency iron K lags in Ark 564 and Mrk 335
• General relativistic modelling of the negative reverberation X-ray time delays in AGN
• Frequency-dependent time lags in the X-ray emission of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 7469
• Negative X-ray reverberation time delays from MCG-6-30-15 and Mrk 766
• The Closest Look at 1H0707-495: X-ray Reverberation Lags with 1.3 Ms of Data
• Calibrating the correlation between black hole mass and X-ray variability amplitude: X-ray only black hole mass estimates for active galactic nuclei and ultra-luminous X-ray sources
• Simultaneous NuSTAR and XMM-Newton 0.5-80 keV spectroscopy of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy SWIFT J2127.4+5654
• Revealing the X-ray source in IRAS 13224-3809 through flux-dependent reverberation lags
• The variable OVIII Warm Absorber in MCG-6-30-15
• Discovery of Fe K-alpha X-ray reverberation around the black holes in MCG-5-23-16 and NGC 7314
• A soft X-ray reverberation lag in the AGN ESO 113-G010
• Spectral-timing evidence for a Very High State in the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Ark 564
• PG 1211+143: probing high frequency lags in a high mass AGN
• X-ray Reverberation close to the black hole in RE J1034+396
• The flux-dependent X-ray time lags in NGC 4051
• X-ray Characteristics of NGC 3516: A View through the Complex Absorber
• Modelling the Broad-band Spectra of MCG-6-30-15 with a Relativistic Reflection Model
• Principal Component Analysis of MCG--6-30-15 with XMM-Newton
• Fourier Resolved Spectroscopy of the XMM-Newton Observations of MCG -6-30-15

Cited by in corpus (20)

• A global look at X-ray time lags in Seyfert Galaxies
• Protostellar Disk Formation Enabled by Removal of Small Dust Grains
• Discovery of a ~2 hr high frequency X-ray QPO and iron K alpha reverberation in the active galaxy MS 2254.9-3712
• Ultraviolet and X-ray variability of active galactic nuclei with Swift
• X-Ray Polarimetry with the Polarization Spectroscopic Telescope Array (PolSTAR)
• Long-term monitoring of the archetype Seyfert galaxy MCG-6-30-15: X-ray, optical and near-IR variability of the corona, disc and torus
• A Reverberation-Based Black Hole Mass for MCG-06-30-15
• Testing the X-ray reverberation model KYNREFREV in a sample of Seyfert 1 Active Galactic Nuclei
• Probing Planets in Extragalactic Galaxies Using Quasar Microlensing
• A high-density relativistic reflection origin for the soft and hard X-ray excess emission from Mrk 1044
• Confirmation of Planet-Mass Objects in Extragalactic Systems
• NuSTAR observations of Mrk 766: distinguishing reflection from absorption
• The rare X-ray flaring activity of the Ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 4559 X7
• Black Hole Spin Measurements Based on a Thin Disc Model with Finite Thickness I. An example study of MCG-06-30-15
• X-ray timing and spectral analysis of reverberating active galactic nuclei
• X-ray Reverberation Mapping and Dramatic Variability of Seyfert 1 Galaxy 1H 1934-063
• Wavelet spectral timing: X-ray reverberation from a dynamic black hole corona hidden beneath ultrafast outflows
• Active Galactic Nuclei and Quasars: Why Still a Puzzle after 50 years?
• The nature of X-ray spectral variability in MCG-6-30-15
• AstroSat Observation of 2016 Outburst of H 1743-322