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The remarkable X-ray variability of IRAS 13224-3809 - I. The variability process

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Alston, WN 
Fabian, AC 
Buisson, DJK 
Kara, E 
Parker, ML 

Abstract

We present a detailed X-ray timing analysis of the highly variable NLS1 galaxy, IRAS 13224-3809. The source was recently monitored for 1.5 Ms with XMM-Newton which, combined with 500 ks archival data, makes this the best studied NLS1 galaxy in X-rays to date. We apply standard time- and Fourier-domain in order to understand the underlying variability process. The source flux is not distributed lognormally, as would be expected for accreting sources. The first non-linear rms-flux relation for any accreting source in any waveband is found, with rmsflux2/3. The light curves exhibit significant strong non-stationarity, in addition to that caused by the rms-flux relation, and are fractionally more variable at lower source flux. The power spectrum is estimated down to ∼10−7 Hz and consists of multiple peaked components: a low-frequency break at ∼10−5 Hz, with slope α<1 down to low frequencies; an additional component breaking at ∼10−3 Hz. Using the high-frequency break we estimate the black hole mass MBH=[0.5−2]×106M, and mass accretion rate in Eddington units, m˙Edd≳1. The non-stationarity is manifest in the PSD with the normalisation of the peaked components increasing with decreasing source flux, as well as the low-frequency peak moving to higher frequencies. We also detect a narrow coherent feature in the soft band PSD at 0.7 mHz, modelled with a Lorentzian the feature has Q∼8 and an rms∼3 %. We discuss the implication of these results for accretion of matter onto black holes.

Description

Keywords

galaxies: individual: IRAS 13224-3809, galaxies: Seyfert, X-rays: galaxies

Journal Title

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0035-8711
1365-2966

Volume Title

482

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)
Sponsorship
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/R000867/1)
European Commission (312789)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/N000927/1)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/N004027/1)