The absence of a thin disc in M81*

Le résumé fourni par la source

We present the results of simultaneous Suzaku and NuSTAR observations of the nearest low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (LLAGN), M81*. The spectrum is well described by a cut-off power law plus narrow emission lines from Fe K α, Fe xxv, and Fe xxvi. There is no evidence of Compton reflection from an optically thick disc, and we obtain the strongest constraint on the reflection fraction in M81* to date, with a best-fitting value of R = 0.0 with an upper limit of R < 0.1. The Fe K α line may be produced in optically thin, |$N_{\rm H} = 1 \times 10^{23} {\rm \,cm}^{-2}$|⁠, gas located in the equatorial plane that could be the broad line region. The ionized iron lines may originate in the hot, inner accretion flow. The X-ray continuum shows significant variability on ∼40 ks time-scales suggesting that the primary X-ray source is ∼100 s of gravitational radii in size. If this X-ray source illuminates any putative optically thick disc, the weakness of reflection implies that such a disc lies outside a few ×103 gravitational radii. An optically thin accretion flow inside a truncated optically thick disc appears to be a common feature of LLAGN that are accreting at only a tiny fraction of the Eddington limit.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.