Hard X-ray view of the past activity of Sgr A* in a natural Compton mirror

Abstract

We report the association of the recently discovered hard X-ray source IGR J17475-2822 with the giant molecular cloud Sgr B2 in the Galactic Center region. The broad band (3-200 keV) spectrum of the source constructed from data of different observatories strongly supports the idea that the X-ray emission of Sgr B2 is Compton scattered and reprocessed radiation emitted in the past by the Sgr A* source. We conclude that 300-400 years ago Sgr A* was a low luminosity (L ~ 1.5e39 erg/s at 2-200 keV) AGN with a characteristic hard X-ray spectrum (photon index Gamma ~ 1.8). We estimate the mass and iron abundance of the Sgr B2 scattering gas at 2e6 Msun (r/10pc)^2 and 1.9 solar, respectively (where r is the radius of the cloud).

5 pages, 3 fugures. Submmitted to A&A Letters. Version with original quality figures can be taken from http://integral.rssi.ru/~mikej/sgr_aa.ps.gz

References in corpus (19)

• Chandra X-ray Spectroscopic Imaging of Sgr A* and the Central Parsec of the Galaxy
• The Supermassive Black Hole at the Galactic Center
• The Spectral Energy Distributions of Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei
• A Search for "Dwarf" Seyfert Nuclei. V. Demographics of Nuclear Activity in Nearby Galaxies
• Stellar dynamics in the central arcsecond of our galaxy
• X-ray emitting young stars in the Orion Nebula
• Detection of Nuclear X-ray Sources in Nearby Galaxies with Chandra
• Equivalent width, shape and proper motion of the iron fluorescent line emission from the molecular clouds as an indicator of the illuminating source X-ray flux history
• RXTE all-sky slew survey. Catalog of X-ray sources at |b|>10deg
• A Hard X-ray survey of the Galactic Center with INTEGRAL/IBIS. Catalog of sources
• ASCA Observations of the Sgr B2 Cloud: An X-Ray Reflection Nebula
• On the Origin of the Iron K Line in the Spectrum of the Galactic X-ray Background
• Chandra Observations of Diffuse X-Rays from the Sagittarius B2 Cloud
• The Origin of X-ray Emission from a Galactic Center Molecular Cloud: Low Energy Cosmic Ray Electrons
• Characteristics of Diffuse X-Ray Line Emission within 20 pc of the Galactic Center
• ASCA Discovery of Diffuse 6.4 keV Emission Near the Sgr C Complex: A New X-ray Reflection Nebula
• Polarization of X-ray emission from the Sgr B2 cloud
• X-Rays from Accelerated Ion Interactions
• X-ray emission from the giant molecular clouds in the Galactic Center region and the discovery of new X-ray sources

Cited by in corpus (103)

• The Galactic Center Massive Black Hole and Nuclear Star Cluster
• Giant Gamma-ray Bubbles from Fermi-LAT: AGN Activity or Bipolar Galactic Wind?
• The Two Young Star Disks in the Central Parsec of the Galaxy: Properties, Dynamics and Formation
• Stellar Processes Near the Massive Black Hole in the Galactic Center
• The 511 keV emission from positron annihilation in the Galaxy
• The Masses and Spins of Neutron Stars and Stellar-Mass Black Holes
• Galaxy Zoo: The fundamentally different co-evolution of supermassive black holes and their early- and late-type host galaxies
• A correlation between star formation rate and average black hole accretion in star forming galaxies
• INTEGRAL/IBIS all-sky survey in hard X-rays
• Discovery of a superluminal Fe K echo at the Galactic Center: The glorious past of Sgr A* preserved by molecular clouds
• Observational signatures of particle acceleration in supernova remnants
• Galactic Centre stellar winds and Sgr A* accretion
• The Fermi Bubbles: Supersonic AGN Jets with Anisotropic Cosmic Ray Diffusion
• Self-gravitating accretion disk in Sgr A* few million years ago: was Sgr A* a failed quasar?
• Fading hard X-ray emission from the Galactic Centre molecular cloud Sgr B2
• The 2-79 keV X-ray Spectrum of the Circinus Galaxy with NuSTAR, XMM-Newton and Chandra: a Fully Compton-Thick AGN
• Variable accretion and emission from the stellar winds in the Galactic centre
• The Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole: How good a case is it? A Challenge for Astrophysics & Philosophy of Science
• The Origin of Diffuse X-ray and $\gamma$-ray Emission from the Galactic Center Region: Cosmic Ray Particles
• Radio and Millimeter Monitoring of Sgr A*: Spectrum, Variability, and Constraints on the G2 Encounter
• The XMM-Newton view of the central degrees of the Milky Way
• Galactic center at very high-energies
• Echoes of multiple outbursts of Sagittarius A* revealed by Chandra
• Source-intrinsic near-infrared properties of Sgr A*: Total intensity measurements
• Nonthermal particles and photons in starburst regions and superbubbles
• INTEGRAL/IBIS nine-year Galactic Hard X-Ray Survey
• The Interplay between Star Formation and the Nuclear Environment of our Galaxy: Deep X-ray Observations of the Galactic Center Arches and Quintuplet Clusters
• Fermi Bubbles Inflated by Winds Launched from the Hot Accretion Flow in Sgr A*
• A RIAF Interpretation for the Past Higher Activity of the Galactic Center Black Hole and the 511 keV Annihilation Emission
• Fermi Bubbles in the Milky Way: the closest AGN feedback laboratory courtesy of Sgr A*?
• INTEGRAL/IBIS 7-year All-Sky Hard X-Ray Survey. Part II: Catalog of Sources
• X-ray bubbles in the circumgalactic medium of TNG50 Milky Way- and M31-like galaxies: signposts of supermassive black hole activity
• Discovery of Variable Iron Fluorescence from Reflection Nebulae in the Galactic Center
• Sgr A* flares: tidal disruption of asteroids and planets?
• Relativistic disc reflection in the extreme NLS1 IRAS13224-3809
• Traces of past activity in the Galactic Centre
• Nonthermal X-rays from low-energy cosmic rays: Application to the 6.4 keV line emission from the Arches cluster region
• Galactic Center Research: Manifestations of the Central Black Hole
• Numerical Parameter Survey of Nonradiative Black Hole Accretion -- Flow Structure and Variability of the Rotation Measure
• X-ray Diagnostics of Giant Molecular Clouds in the Galactic Center Region and Past Activity of Sgr A*
• A Persistent High-Energy Flux from the Heart of the Milky Way : Integral's view of the Galactic Center
• Accretion of cool stellar winds on Sgr A*: another puzzle of the Galactic Centre?
• The X-ray lightcurve of Sgr A* over the past 150 years inferred from Fe-Ka line reverberation in Galactic Centre molecular clouds
• Star formation in accretion discs : from the Galactic Center to Active Galactic Nuclei
• A Catalog of Diffuse X-ray-Emitting Features within 20 pc of Sgr A*: Twenty Pulsar Wind Nebulae?
• Chemical Features in the Circumnuclear Disk of the Galactic Center
• Hard X-ray Morphological and Spectral Studies of The Galactic Center Molecular Cloud Sgr B2: Constraining Past Sgr A* Flaring Activity
• Low-mass X-ray binaries in the bulge of the Milky Way
• Monitoring the Dusty S-Cluster Object (DSO/G2) on its Orbit towards the Galactic Center Black Hole
• INTEGRAL/IBIS 17-yr hard X-ray all-sky survey
• New Evidence for High Activity of the Super-Massive Black Hole in our Galaxy
• A Radio Transient 0.1 pc from Sagittarius A*
• Not that long time ago in the nearest galaxy: 3D slice of molecular gas revealed by a 110 years old flare of Sgr A*
• The pattern of accretion flow onto Sgr A*
• Polarization and long-term variability of Sgr A* X-ray echo
• Diffuse X-Ray Sky in the Galactic Center
• K-shell Emission of Neutral Iron Line from Sgr B2 Excited by Subrelativistic Protons
• Exploring plasma evolution during Sagittarius A* flares
• First hard X-ray detection of the non-thermal emission around the Arches cluster: morphology and spectral studies with NuSTAR
• INTEGRAL: science highlights and future prospects
• Fe Ka line emission from the Arches cluster region - evidence for ongoing particle bombardment?
• Spin and mass of the nearest supermassive black hole
• Sensitivity of the Fe K-alpha Compton shoulder to the geometry and variability of the X-ray illumination of cosmic objects
• Suzaku Spectroscopy Study of Hard X-Ray Emission in the Arches Cluster
• Coronal radiation of a cusp of spun-up stars and the X-ray luminosity of Sgr A*
• The Observed Galactic Annihilation Line. Possible Signature of the Cluster for Accreting Small Mass Black Holes
• The Sgr B2 X-ray Echo of the Galactic Center Supernova Explosion that Produced Sgr A East
• The Galactic LMXB Population and the Galactic Centre Region
• Spectrum of Relativistic and Subrelativistic Cosmic Rays in the 100 pc Central Region
• X-Ray Reflection Nebulae with Large Equivalent Widths of Neutral Iron Ka Line in the Sgr C Region
• Submillimeter imaging of the Galactic Center starburst Sgr B2. Warm molecular, atomic, and ionized gas far from massive star-forming cores
• Is SS 433 a misaligned ultraluminous X-ray source? Constraints from its reflected signal in the Galactic plane
• The Cosmic Ray Distribution in Sagittarius B
• Swift J174540.7-290015: a new accreting binary in the Galactic Center
• Examining molecular clouds in the Galactic Centre region using X-ray reflection spectra simulations
• A past capture event at Sagittarius A* inferred from the fluorescent X-ray emission of Sagittarius B clouds
• NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations of the Arches cluster in 2015: fading hard X-ray emission from the molecular cloud
• A thin diffuse component of the Galactic Ridge X-ray emission and heating of the interstellar medium contributed by the radiation of Galactic X-ray binaries
• Probing the clumping structure of Giant Molecular Clouds through the spectrum, polarisation and morphology of X-ray Reflection Nebulae
• Is the INTEGRAL/IBIS source IGR J17204-3554 a gamma-ray emitting galaxy hidden behind the molecular cloud NGC 6334 ?
• Soft gamma-ray constraints on a bright flare from the Galactic Center supermassive black hole
• Investigating the origin of the faint non-thermal emission of the Arches cluster using the 2015-2016 NuSTAR and XMM-Newton X-ray observations
• Unveiling the nature of the highly absorbed X-ray source SAXJ1748.2-2808 with XMM-Newton
• SRG/eROSITA view of X-ray reflection in the Central Molecular Zone: a snapshot in September-October 2019
• Multiwavelength campaign on Mrk 509 VII. Relative abundances of the warm absorber
• Diffusive Cosmic-ray Acceleration in Sagittarius A*
• An OH(1720 MHz) Maser and a Nonthermal Radio Source in Sgr B2(M): A SNR--Molecular Cloud Interaction Site?
• New Constraints on Cosmic Particle Populations at the Galactic Center using X-ray Observations of the Molecular Cloud Sagittarius B2
• Sgr B2 hard X-ray emission with INTEGRAL after 2009: still detectable?
• Time-Variability of equivalent width of 6.4 keV line from the Arches Complex: reflected X-rays or charged particles?
• X-raying molecular clouds with a short flare: probing statistics of gas density and velocity fields
• X-Ray afterglow of SWIFT J1644+57: a Compton echo?
• Adaptive Optics: Observations and Prospects for Studies of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Gamma-ray Production in the Extended Halo of the Galaxy and Possible Implications for the Origin of Galactic Cosmic Rays
• GMRT observations of the field of INTEGRAL X-ray sources- II (newly discovered hard X-ray sources)
• Astrophysics in 2005
• Model Atmospheres for Irradiated Giant Stars: Implications for the Galactic Center
• Impact of intrinsic polarisation of Sgr A* historical flares on (polarisation) properties of their X-ray echoes
• Coded Mask Instruments for Gamma-Ray Astronomy
• Constraints on Galaxy Structure and Evolution from the Light of Nearby Systems
• High Energy Activity of the Super-Massive Black Hole at the Galactic Center
• Chandra Observations of Galactic Center: High Energy Processes at Arcsecond Resolution
• High Energy Emission from the Galactic Center