Reflection features in the X-ray spectrum of Fairall 9 and implications for tests of general relativity

Abstract

X-ray reflection spectroscopy is potentially a powerful tool to probe the spacetime geometry around astrophysical black holes and test general relativity in the strong field regime. However, precision tests of general relativity are only possible if we employ the correct astrophysical model and we can limit the systematic uncertainties. It is thus crucial to select the sources and the observations most suitable for these tests. In this work, we analyze simultaneous observations of XMM-Newton and NuSTAR of the supermassive black hole in Fairall 9. This source has a number of properties that make it a promising candidate for tests of general relativity using X-ray reflection spectroscopy. Nevertheless, we find that with the available data there is not a unique interpretation of the spectrum of Fairall 9, which prevents, for the moment, to use this source for robust tests of general relativity. This issue may be solved by future X-ray missions with a higher energy resolution near the iron line.

arXiv comment10 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (70)

• Unified Schemes for Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• On the Absorption of X-rays in the Interstellar Medium
• The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
• The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Mission
• Atomic Data for Astrophysics. II. New Analytic Fits for Photoionization Cross Sections of Atoms and Ions
• Central Masses and Broad-Line Region Sizes of Active Galactic Nuclei. II. A Homogeneous Analysis of a Large Reverberation-Mapping Database
• Kerr black holes with scalar hair
• Broad-band gamma-ray and X-ray spectra of NGC 4151 and their implications for physical processes and geometry
• Improved Reflection Models of Black-Hole Accretion Disks: Treating the Angular Distribution of X-rays
• The May 1989 outburst of the Soft X-ray Transient GS 2023+338 (V404 Cyg)
• Broad iron lines in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Constraining Black Hole Spin Via X-ray Spectroscopy
• Stationary Black Holes: Uniqueness and Beyond
• X-ray reflected spectra from accretion disk models. III. A complete grid of ionized reflection calculations
• An Explanation for the soft X-ray excess in AGN
• Measuring Black Hole Spin using X-ray Reflection Spectroscopy
• Irradiation of an Accretion Disc by a Jet: General Properties and Implications for Spin Measurements of Black Holes
• Simultaneous X-ray/optical/UV snapshots of active galactic nuclei from XMM-Newton: spectral energy distributions for the reverberation mapped sample
• Dynamical Chern-Simons Modified Gravity I: Spinning Black Holes in the Slow-Rotation Approximation
• Testing black hole candidates with electromagnetic radiation
• Simulations of Magnetized Disks Around Black Holes: Effects of Black Hole Spin, Disk Thickness, and Magnetic Field Geometry
• Suzaku observations of 'bare' active galactic nuclei
• B-Mode contamination by synchrotron emission from 3-years WMAP data
• The Constant Inner-Disk Radius of LMC X-3: A Basis for Measuring Black Hole Spin
• CAIXA: a Catalogue of AGN In the XMM-Newton Archive I. Spectral analysis
• Black hole mass and spin coevolution by mergers
• Slowly-Rotating Black Holes in Einstein-Dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet Gravity: Quadratic Order in Spin Solutions
• Testing warm Comptonization models for the origin of the soft X-ray excess in AGN
• High-Density Effects in X-ray Reflection Models from Accretion Disks
• eXTP -- enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry Mission
• Geodesically complete black holes
• Testing the Kerr black hole hypothesis using X-ray reflection spectroscopy
• On the determination of the spin of the black hole in Cyg X-1 from X-ray reflection spectra
• Measuring Black Hole Spin by the Continuum-Fitting Method: Effect of Deviations from the Novikov-Thorne Disc Model
• High Density Reflection Spectroscopy: II. the Density of the Inner Black Hole Accretion Disc in AGN
• Measuring Supermassive Black Hole Spins in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Astrophysical Black Holes: A Compact Pedagogical Review
• On the determination of the spin and disc truncation of accreting black holes using X-ray reflection
• Testing the Kerr black hole hypothesis
• The complex accretion geometry of GX 339-4 as seen by NuSTAR and Swift
• Simultaneous NuSTAR and XMM-Newton 0.5-80 keV spectroscopy of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy SWIFT J2127.4+5654
• The Soft-Excess in Mrk 509: Warm Corona or Relativistic Reflection?
• The soft X-ray emission of Ark 120. XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, and the importance of taking the broad view
• Testing general relativity with the reflection spectrum of the supermassive black hole in 1H0707$-$495
• A Monte Carlo Markov Chain based investigation of black hole spin in the active galaxy NGC3783
• Evidence for Rapidly Spinning Black Holes in Quasars
• A disk wind interpretation of the strong Fe Kα features in 1H 0707-495
• Towards precision tests of general relativity with black hole X-ray reflection spectroscopy
• Public Release of RELXILL_NK: A Relativistic Reflection Model for Testing Einstein's Gravity
• The evolution of GX 339-4 in the low-hard state as seen by NuSTAR and Swift
• Constraining the Spin of the Black Hole in Fairall 9 with Suzaku
• Constraints on the spacetime metric around seven "bare" AGNs using X-ray reflection spectroscopy
• Note on the effect of a massive accretion disk in the measurements of black hole spins
• Assessing black hole spin in deep Suzaku observations of Seyfert 1 AGN
• The Black Hole Spin and Soft X-ray Excess of the Luminous Seyfert Galaxy Fairall 9
• Astronomical tests for quantum black hole structure
• The Seyfert AGN RX J0136.9-3510 and the Spectral State of Super Eddington Accretion Flows
• Reflection spectra of thick accretion disks
• A study of the strong gravity region of the black hole in GS 1354-645
• Tests of the Kerr hypothesis with GRS 1915+105 using different RELXILL flavors
• An XMM-Newton view of the `bare' nucleus of Fairall 9
• Testing the Kerr nature of the supermassive black hole in Ark 564
• Modeling bias in supermassive black hole spin measurements
• The rhythm of Fairall 9 -- I: Observing the spectral variability with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR
• Difficulties of Quantitative Tests of the Kerr-Hypothesis with X-Ray Observations of Mass Accreting Black Holes
• Correlated X-ray/UV/optical variability and the nature of accretion disc in the bare Seyfert 1 galaxy Fairall~9
• Detectability of low energy X-ray spectral components in type 1 AGN
• Testing the Kerr hypothesis using X-ray reflection spectroscopy with NuSTAR data of Cygnus X-1 in the soft state
• About the Kerr nature of the stellar-mass black hole in GRS 1915+105
• No Signatures of Black-Hole Spin in the X-ray Spectrum of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy Fairall 9

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Testing General Relativity with black hole X-ray data: a progress report
• Constraining the KRZ deformation parameters I: limits from supermassive black hole X-ray data
• Testing Gravity with Black Hole X-Ray Data
• A UV to X-ray view of soft excess in type 1 AGNs: I. sample selection and spectral profile
• The Origin of The Soft X-Ray Excess in the Seyfert 1.5 Galaxy ESO 362-G18
• Testing General Relativity with Black Hole X-ray Data