A ~1-hour X-ray periodicity in an active galaxy RE J1034+396
| dc.creator | Gierlinski, Marek | |
| dc.creator | Middleton, Matthew | |
| dc.creator | Ward, Martin | |
| dc.creator | Done, Chris | |
| dc.date | 2008-07-11 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-07T09:49:53Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-07T09:49:53Z | |
| dc.description | Active galactic nuclei and quasars are thought to be scaled up versions of Galactic black hole binaries, powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes with masses of 10^6-10^9 M_Sun, as opposed to the ~10 M_Sun in binaries. One example of the similarities between these two types of systems is the characteristic rapid X-ray variability seen from the accretion flow. The power spectrum of this variability in black hole binaries consists of a broad, band-limited noise with multiple quasi-periodic oscillations superimposed, where power is concentrated over a narrow range of frequencies. Although the broad noise component has been observed in many active galactic nuclei, there are no significant detections of quasi-periodic oscillations. Here we report the discovery of a ~1h X-ray periodicity in a bright active galaxy RE J1034+396. The signal is highly statistically significant (at the 5.6 sigma level) and very coherent, with quality factor Q > 16. This reinforces the link between stellar and supermassive black holes, emphasizing the universal properties of accretion onto objects with very different masses. The X-ray modulation arises from the direct vicinity of the black hole, so this provides a new tool for studying active galactic nuclei. | |
| dc.description | Accepted for publication in Nature, 3 pages, 3 figures | |
| dc.identifier | https://arxiv.org/abs/0807.1899 | |
| dc.identifier | http://arxiv.org/abs/0807.1899 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/164756 | |
| dc.subject | Astrophysics | |
| dc.title | A ~1-hour X-ray periodicity in an active galaxy RE J1034+396 | |
| dc.type | text |