arXiv subjects

H. L. Marshall

Publications and source records attributed to H. L. Marshall.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Summary of the 14th IACHEC Meeting

We summarize the 14th meeting of the International Astronomical Consortium for High Energy Calibration (IACHEC) held at \textit{Shonan Village} (Kanagawa, Japan) in May 2019. Sixty scientists directly involved in the calibration of operational and future high-energy missions gathered during 3.5 days to discuss the status of the cross-calibration between the current international complement of X-ray observatories, and the possibilities to improve it. This summary consists of reports from the various WGs with topics ranging from the identification and characterization of standard calibration sources, multi-observatory cross-calibration campaigns, appropriate and new statistical techniques, calibration of instruments and characterization of background, communication and preservation of knowledge, and results for the benefit of the astronomical community.

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arXiv2019

Summary of the 13th IACHEC Meeting

We summarize the outcome of the 13th meeting of the International Astronomical Consortium for High Energy Calibration (IACHEC), held at Tenuta dei Ciclamini (Avigliano Umbro, Italy) in April 2018. Fifty-one scientists directly involved in the calibration of operational and future high-energy missions gathered during 3.5 days to discuss the current status of the X-ray payload inter-calibration and possible approaches to improve it. This summary consists of reports from the various working groups with topics ranging from the identification and characterization of standard calibration sources, multi-observatory cross-calibration campaigns, appropriate and new statistical techniques, calibration of instruments and characterization of background, and communication and preservation of knowledge and results for the benefit of the astronomical community.

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arXiv2018

An X-ray Imaging Survey of Quasar Jets -- The Complete Survey

We present Chandra X-ray imaging of a flux-limited sample of flat spectrum radio-emitting quasars with jet-like structure. X-rays are detected from 59% of 56 jets. No counterjets were detected. The core spectra are fitted by power law spectra with photon index $Γ_x$ whose distribution is consistent with a normal distribution with mean 1.61{+0.04}{-0.05} and dispersion 0.15{+0.04}{-0.03}. We show that the distribution of $α_{rx}$, the spectral index between the X-ray and radio band jet fluxes, fits a Gaussian with mean 0.974 $\pm$ 0.012 and dispersion 0.077 $\pm$ 0.008. We test the model in which kpc-scale X-rays result from inverse Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons off the jet's relativistic electrons (the IC-CMB model). In the IC-CMB model, a quantity Q computed from observed fluxes and the apparent size of the emission region depends on redshift as $(1+z)^{3+α}$. We fit $Q \propto (1+z)^{a}$, finding $a = 0.88 \pm 0.90$ and reject at 99.5% confidence the hypothesis that the average $α_{rx}$ depends on redshift in the manner expected in the IC-CMB model. This conclusion is mitigated by lack of detailed knowledge of the emission region geometry, which requires deeper or higher resolution X-ray observations. Furthermore, if the IC-CMB model is valid for X-ray emission from kpc-scale jets, then the jets must decelerate on average: bulk Lorentz factors should drop from about 15 to 2-3 between pc and kpc scales. Our results compound the problems that the IC-CMB model has in explaining the X-ray emission of kpc-scale jets.

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arXiv2017

Summary of the 12th IACHEC Meeting

We summarize the outcome of the 12th meeting of the International Astronomical Consortium for High Energy Calibration (IACHEC), held at the UCLA conference center in Lake Arrowhead (California) in March 2017. 56 scientists directly involved in the calibration of operational and future high-energy missions gathered during 3.5 days to discuss the status of the X-ray payload inter-calibration, as well as possible ways to improve it. The "Thermal Supernovas Remnant" (SNR) Working Group presented a recently published paper on 1E0102.2-7219 as a calibration standard in the 0.5-1.0 keV band. A new method to measure the high-energy spectrum of the Crab Nebula and pulsar with NuSTAR without using its optics may yield a new absolute flux standard in the 3-7 keV band. A new ACIS contamination model - released with CALDB version 4.7.3 - leads to a significant improvement in modeling the spectral, spatial, and temporal properties of the contaminant. The first calibration results of the scientific payload on board Hitomi confirm the excellent performance of the instruments before the spacecraft operation problems leading to its loss. Finally, the meeting discussed extensively a novel statistic approach to formally identify in which direction the effective areas of different instruments would need to be changed to bring them into concordance. This method could inform future further calibration efforts.

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arXiv2017

Chandra spectroscopy of Rapid Burster type-I X-ray bursts

We observed the Rapid Burster with Chandra when it was in the 'banana' state that usually precedes the type-II X-ray bursting 'island' state for which the source is particularly known. We employed the High-Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer in combination with the ACIS-S detector in continuous clocking mode. The observation yielded 20 thermonuclear type-I X-ray bursts emitted from the neutron star surface with recurrence times between 0.9 and 1.2 hr, and an e-folding decay time scale of 1 min. We searched for narrow spectral features in the burst emission that could constrain the composition of the ashes of the nuclear burning and the compactness of the neutron star, but found none. The upper limit on the equivalent width of narrow absorption lines between 2 and 6 keV is between 5 and 20 eV (single trial 3 sigma confidence level) and on those of absorption edges between 150 and 400 eV. The latter numbers are comparable to the levels predicted by Weinberg, Bildsten & Schatz (2006) for Eddington-limited thermonuclear bursts.

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arXiv2015

Deep Chandra observations of Pictor A

We report on deep Chandra observations of the nearby broad-line radio galaxy Pictor A, which we combine with new Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) observations. The new X-ray data have a factor 4 more exposure than observations previously presented and span a 15-year time baseline, allowing a detailed study of the spatial, temporal and spectral properties of the AGN, jet, hotspot and lobes. We present evidence for further time variation of the jet, though the flare that we reported in previous work remains the most significantly detected time-varying feature. We also confirm previous tentative evidence for a faint counterjet. Based on the radio through X-ray spectrum of the jet and its detailed spatial structure, and on the properties of the counterjet, we argue that inverse-Compton models can be conclusively rejected, and propose that the X-ray emission from the jet is synchrotron emission from particles accelerated in the boundary layer of a relativistic jet. For the first time, we find evidence that the bright western hotspot is also time-varying in X-rays, and we connect this to the small-scale structure in the hotspot seen in high-resolution radio observations. The new data allow us to confirm that the spectrum of the lobes is in good agreement with the predictions of an inverse-Compton model and we show that the data favour models in which the filaments seen in the radio images are predominantly the result of spatial variation of magnetic fields in the presence of a relatively uniform electron distribution.

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arXiv2015

A Multiwavelength Study of Three Hybrid Blazars

We present multiwavelength imaging observations of PKS 1045-188, 8C 1849+670, and PKS 2216-038, three radio-loud active galactic nuclei from the MOJAVE-Chandra Sample that straddle the Fanaroff-Riley (FR) boundary between low- and high-power jets. These hybrid sources provide an excellent opportunity to study jet emission mechanisms and the influence of the external environment. We used archival VLA observations, and new Hubble and Chandra observations to identify and study the spectral properties of five knots in PKS 1045-188, two knots in 8C 1849+670, and three knots in PKS 2216-038. For the seven X-ray visible knots, we constructed and fit the broadband spectra using synchrotron and inverse Compton/cosmic microwave background (IC/CMB) emission models. In all cases, we found that the lack of detected optical emission ruled out the X-ray emission from the same electron population that produces radio emission. All three sources have high total extended radio power, similar to that of FR II sources. We find this is in good agreement with previously studied hybrid sources, where high-power hybrid sources emit X-rays via IC/CMB and the low-power hybrid sources emit X-rays via synchrotron emission. This supports the idea that it is total radio power rather than FR morphology that determines the X-ray emission mechanism. We found no significant asymmetries in the diffuse X-ray emission surrounding the host galaxies. Sources PKS 1045-188 and 8C 1849+670 show significant differences in their radio and X-ray termination points, which may result from the deceleration of highly relativistic bulk motion.

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arXiv2013

A bright thermonuclear X-ray burst simultaneously observed with Chandra and RXTE

The prototypical accretion-powered millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 was observed simultaneously with Chandra-LETGS and RXTE-PCA near the peak of a transient outburst in November 2011. A single thermonuclear (type-I) burst was detected, the brightest yet observed by Chandra from any source, and the second-brightest observed by RXTE. We found no evidence for discrete spectral features during the burst; absorption edges have been predicted to be present in such bursts, but may require a greater degree of photospheric expansion than the rather moderate expansion seen in this event (a factor of a few). These observations provide a unique data set to study an X-ray burst over a broad bandpass and at high spectral resolution (lambda/delta-lambda=200-400). We find a significant excess of photons at high and low energies compared to the standard black body spectrum. This excess is well described by a 20-fold increase of the persistent flux during the burst. We speculate that this results from burst photons being scattered in the accretion disk corona. These and other recent observations of X-ray bursts point out the need for detailed theoretical modeling of the radiative and hydrodynamical interaction between thermonuclear X-ray bursts and accretion disks.

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arXiv2012

Periodic structure in the Mpc-scale jet of PKS 0637-752

We present 18 GHz Australia Telescope Compact Array imaging of the Mpc-scale quasar jet PKS 0637-752 with angular resolution ~0.58 arcseconds. We draw attention to a spectacular train of quasi-periodic knots along the inner 11 arcseconds of the jet, with average separation ~1.1 arcsec (7.6 kpc projected). We consider two classes of model to explain the periodic knots: those that involve a static pattern through which the jet plasma travels (e.g. stationary shocks); and those that involve modulation of the jet engine. Interpreting the knots as re-confinement shocks implies the jet kinetic power Q ~ 10^{46} erg/s, but the constant knot separation along the jet is not expected in a realistic external density profile. For models involving modulation of the jet engine, we find that the required modulation period is 2 x 10^3 yr < τ< 3 x 10^5 yr. The lower end of this range is applicable if the jet remains highly relativistic on kpc-scales, as implied by the IC/CMB model of jet X-ray emission. We suggest that the quasi-periodic jet structure in PKS 0637-752 may be analogous to the quasi-periodic jet modulation seen in the microquasar GRS 1915+105, believed to result from limit cycle behaviour in an unstable accretion disk. If variations in the accretion rate are driven by a binary black hole, the predicted orbital radius is 0.7 < a < 30 pc, which corresponds to a maximum angular separation of ~0.1 - 5 mas.

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arXiv2012

A Multi-Wavelength Study of the Jet, Lobes and Core of the Quasar PKS 2101-490

We present a detailed study of the X-ray, optical and radio emission from the jet, lobes and core of the quasar PKS 2101-490 as revealed by new Chandra, HST and ATCA images. We extract the radio to X-ray spectral energy distributions from seven regions of the 13 arcsecond jet, and model the jet X-ray emission in terms of Doppler beamed inverse Compton scattering of the cosmic microwave background (IC/CMB) for a jet in a state of equipartition between particle and magnetic field energy densities. This model implies that the jet remains highly relativistic hundreds of kpc from the nucleus, with a bulk Lorentz factor Gamma ~ 6 and magnetic field of order 30 microGauss. We detect an apparent radiative cooling break in the synchrotron spectrum of one of the jet knots, and are able to interpret this in terms of a standard one-zone continuous injection model, based on jet parameters derived from the IC/CMB model. However, we note apparent substructure in the bright optical knot in one of the HST bands. We confront the IC/CMB model with independent estimates of the jet power, and find that the IC/CMB model jet power is consistent with the independent estimates, provided that the minimum electron Lorentz factor gamma_min > 50, and the knots are significantly longer than the jet width, as implied by de-projection of the observed knot lengths.

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arXiv2011

The X-ray properties of typical high-redshift radio-loud quasars

We report spectral, imaging, and variability results from four new XMM-Newton observations and two new Chandra observations of high-redshift (z > 4) radio-loud quasars (RLQs). Our targets span lower, and more representative, values of radio loudness than those of past samples of high-redshift RLQs studied in the X-ray regime. Our spectral analyses show power-law X-ray continua with a mean photon index, Γ=1.74 +/- 0.11, that is consistent with measurements of lower redshift RLQs. These continua are likely dominated by jet-linked X-ray emission, and they follow the expected anti-correlation between photon index and radio loudness. We find no evidence of iron Kα~ emission lines or Compton-reflection continua. Our data also constrain intrinsic X-ray absorption in these RLQs. We find evidence for significant absorption (N_H ~ 10^22 cm^-2) in one RLQ of our sample (SDSS J0011+1446); the incidence of X-ray absorption in our sample appears plausibly consistent with that for high-redshift RLQs that have higher values of radio loudness. In the Chandra observation of PMN J221-2719 we detect apparent extended (~ 14 kpc) X-ray emission that is most likely due to a jet; the X-ray luminosity of this putative jet is ~2% that of the core. The analysis of a 4.9 GHz VLA image of PMN J221-2719 reveals a structure that matches the X-ray extension found in this source. We also find evidence for long-term (450-460 days) X-ray variability by 80-100% in two of our targets.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

An X-ray Imaging Survey of Quasar Jets -- Testing the Inverse Compton Model

We present results from continued Chandra X-ray imaging and spectroscopy of a flux-limited sample of flat spectrum radio-emitting quasars with jet-like extended structure. X-rays are detected from 24 of the 39 jets observed so far. We compute the distribution of alpha_rx, the spectral index between the X-ray and radio bands, showing that it is broad, extending at least from 0.8 to 1.2. While there is a general trend that the radio brightest jets are detected most often, it is clear that predicting the X-ray flux from the radio knot flux densities is risky so a shallow X-ray survey is the most effective means for finding jets that are X-ray bright. We test the model in which the X-rays result from inverse Compton (IC) scattering of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons by relativistic electrons in the jet moving with high bulk Lorentz factor nearly along the line of sight. Depending on how the jet magnetic fields vary with z, the observed X-ray to radio flux ratios do not follow the redshift dependence expected from the IC-CMB model. For a subset of our sample with known superluminal motion based on VLBI observations, we estimate the angle of the kpc-scale jet to the line of sight by considering the additional information in the bends observed between pc- and kpc-scale jets. These angles are sometimes much smaller than estimates based on the IC-CMB model with a Lorentz factor of 15, indicating that these jets may decelerate significantly from pc scales to kpc scales.

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arXiv2010

A Flare in the Jet of Pictor A

A Chandra X-ray imaging observation of the jet in Pictor A showed a feature that appears to be a flare that faded between 2000 and 2002. The feature was not detected in a follow-up observation in 2009. The jet itself is over 150 kpc long and a kpc wide, so finding year-long variability is surprising. Assuming a synchrotron origin of the observed high-energy photons and a minimum energy condition for the outflow, the synchrotron loss time of the X-ray emitting electrons is of order 1200 yr, which is much longer than the observed variability timescale. This leads to the possibility that the variable X-ray emission arises from a very small sub-volume of the jet, characterized by magnetic field that is substantially larger than the average over the jet.

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arXiv2009

The Photoionized Accretion Disk in Her X-1

We present an analysis of several high-resolution Chandra grating observations of the X-ray binary pulsar Her X-1. With a total exposure of 170 ks, the observations are separated by years and cover three combinations of orbital and super-orbital phases. Our goal is to determine distinct properties of the photoionized emission and its dependence on phase-dependent variations of the continuum. We find that the continua can be described by a partial covering model which above 2 keV is consistent with recent results from \rxte studies and at low energies is consistent with recent \xmm and \sax studies. Besides a powerlaw with fixed index, an additional thermal blackbody of 114 eV is required to fit wavelengths above 12 Å($\sim$ 1 keV). We find that likely all the variability is caused by highly variable absorption columns in the range (1 -- 3)$\times 10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$. Strong Fe K line fluorescence in almost all observations reveals that dense, cool material is present not only in the outer regions of the disk but interspersed throughout the disk. Most spectra show strong line emission stemming from a photoionized accretion disk corona. We model the line emission with generic thermal plasma models as well as with the photoionization code XSTAR and investigate changes of the ionization balance with orbital and superorbital phases. Most accretion disk coronal properties such as disk radii, temperatures, and plasma densities are consistent with previous findings for the low state. We find that these properties change negligibly with respect to orbital and super-orbital phases. A couple of the higher energy lines exhibit emissivities that are significantly in excess of expectations from a static accretion disk corona.

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arXiv2009

X-raying the Intergalactic OVI Absorbers

The observed intergalactic OVI absorbers at z>0 have been regarded as a significant reservoir of the ``missing baryons''. However, to fully understand how these absorbers contribute to the baryon inventory, it is crucial to determine whether the systems are collisionally ionized or photoionized (or both). Using the identified intergalactic OVI absorbers as tracers, we search for the corresponding X-ray absorption lines, which are useful for finding the missing baryons and for revealing the nature of the OVI absorbers. Stacking the Chandra grating spectra along six AGN sight lines, we obtain three spectra with signal-to-noise ratios of 32, 28, and 10 per 12.5 mA spectral bin around the expected OVII Kalpha wavelength. These spectra correspond to OVI absorbers with various dynamic properties. We find no detectable NeIX, OVII, OVIII, NVII, or CVI absorption lines in the spectra, but the high counting statistics allows us to obtain firm upper limits on the corresponding ionic column densities (in particular N(OVII)<=10 N(OVI) on average at the 95% confidence level). Jointly analyzing these non-detected X-ray lines with the averaged OVI column density, we further limit the average temperature of the OVI-bearing gas to be log[T(K)]<=5.7 in collisional ionization equilibrium. We discuss the implications of these results for physical properties of the putative warm-hot intergalactic medium and its detection in future X-ray observations.

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arXiv2009

A Multi-Wavelength Study of the High Surface Brightness Hotspot in PKS1421-490

Long Baseline Array imaging of the z=0.663 broad line radio galaxy PKS1421-490 reveals a 400 pc diameter high surface brightness hotspot at a projected distance of approximately 40kpc from the active galactic nucleus. The isotropic X-ray luminosity of the hotspot, L_{2-10 keV} = 3 10^{44} ergs/s, is comparable to the isotropic X-ray luminosity of the entire X-ray jet of PKS0637-752, and the peak radio surface brightness is hundreds of times greater than that of the brightest hotspot in Cygnus A. We model the radio to X-ray spectral energy distribution using a one-zone synchrotron self Compton model with a near equipartition magnetic field strength of 3 mG. There is a strong brightness asymmetry between the approaching and receding hotspots and the hot spot spectrum remains flat (alpha ~ 0.5) well beyond the predicted cooling break for a 3 mG magnetic field, indicating that the hotspot emission may be Doppler beamed. A high plasma velocity beyond the terminal jet shock could be the result of a dynamically important magnetic field in the jet. There is a change in the slope of the hotspot radio spectrum at GHz frequencies from alpha~0.5 to alpha<0.2, which we model by incorporating a cut-off in the electron energy distribution at gamma_{min} ~ 650, with higher values implied if the hotspot emission is Doppler beamed. We show that a sharp decrease in the electron number density below a Lorentz factor of 650 would arise from the dissipation of bulk kinetic energy in an electron/proton jet with a Lorentz factor Gamma_{jet} ~ 5.

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arXiv2008

Results from an extensive simultaneous broadband campaign on the underluminous active nucleus M81*: further evidence for mass-scaling accretion in black holes

We present the results of a broadband simultaneous campaign on the nearby low-luminosity active galactic nucleus M81*. From February through August 2005, we observed M81* five times using the Chandra X-ray Observatory with the High-Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer, complemented by ground-based observations with the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope, the Very Large Array and Very Large Baseline Array, the Plateau de Bure Interferometer at IRAM, the Submillimeter Array and Lick Observatory. We discuss how the resulting spectra vary over short and longer timescales compared to previous results, especially in the X-rays where this is the first ever longer-term campaign at spatial resolution high enough to nearly isolate the nucleus (17pc). We compare the spectrum to our Galactic center weakly active nucleus Sgr A*, which has undergone similar campaigns, as well as to weakly accreting X-ray binaries in the context of outflow-dominated models. In agreement with recent results suggesting that the physics of weakly-accreting black holes scales predictably with mass, we find that the exact same model which successfully describes hard state X-ray binaries applies to M81*, with very similar physical parameters.

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arXiv2006

Discovery of an X-ray Jet and Extended Jet Structure in the Quasar PKS 1055+201

This letter reports rich X-ray jet structures found in the Chandra observation of PKS 1055+201. In addition to an X-ray jet coincident with the radio jet we detect a region of extended X-ray emission surrounding the jet as far from the core as the radio hotspot to the North, and a similar extended X-ray region along the presumed path of the unseen counterjet to the Southern radio lobe. Both X-ray regions show a similar curvature to the west, relative to the quasar. We interpret this as the first example where we separately detect the X-ray emission from a narrow jet and extended, residual jet plasma over the entire length of a powerful FRII jet.

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