Abstract
Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are an extreme X-ray variability phenomenon associated with low-mass (M BH < 10 7 M ⊙) supermassive black holes (SMBHs). First discovered in the nucleus of the galaxy GSN 069, they have been so far securely detected in five other galaxies, including RX J1301.9+2747. When detected, the out-of-QPE emission (quiescence) is consistent with the high-energy tail of thermal emission from an accretion disk. In this article we present the X-ray properties of RX J1301.9+2747, both in quiescence and during QPEs, and complement this information with radio observations. We analyze X-ray data taken during five XMM-Newton observations between 2000 and 2022. The last three observations were taken in coordination with radio observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. We also made use of EXOSAT, ROSAT, and Chandra archival observations taken between 1983 and 2009. XMM-Newton detected 34 QPEs of which eight have significantly lower amplitudes than the others. No correlated radio/X-ray variability was observed during QPEs. In terms of timing properties, the QPEs in RX J1301.9+2747 do not exhibit the striking regularity observed in the discovery source GSN 069. In fact there is no clear repetition pattern between QPEs: the average time separation between their peaks is about four hours, but it can be as short as one, and as long as six hours. The QPE spectral properties of RX J1301.9+2747 as a function of energy are, however, very similar to those of GSN 069 and of other QPE sources. During their evolution, X-ray QPEs follow a hysteresis pattern in the temperature-luminosity plane, with a hotter rise than decay. The quiescent emission of RX J1301.9+2747 is more complex than that of GSN 069, as it requires a soft X-ray excess-like component in addition to the thermal emission from the accretion disk. Its long-term X-ray quiescent flux variations are of a low amplitude and not strictly monotonic, with a general decay over the course of ∼22 years. We discuss our observational results in terms of some of the ideas and models that have been proposed so far for the physical origin of QPEs.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | A15 |
| Number of pages | 34 |
| Journal | Astronomy & Astrophysics |
| Volume | 692 |
| Early online date | 29 Nov 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 29 Nov 2024 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Authors 2024.
Funding
We thank the referee for their constructive criticism that allowed us to improve our results and their presentation. MG is supported by the “Programa de Atracción de Talento” of the Comunidad de Madrid, grant numbers 2018-T1/TIC-11733 and 2022-5A/TIC-24235. GM is supported by Grant PID2020-115325GB-C31 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. RA and PK acknowledge support from NASA through the NASA Hubble Fellowship grant HST-HF2-51534.001-A awarded by the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Incorporated, under NASA contract NAS5-26555. MB acknowledges support provided by MUR under grant “PNRR - Missione 4 Istruzione e Ricerca – Componente 2 Dalla Ricerca all’Impresa – Investimento 1.2 Finanziamento di progetti presentati da giovani ricercatori ID:SOE_0163” and by the University of Milano-Bicocca under grant “2022-NAZ-0482/B”. XS is supported by NSFC through grant No. 12192221. GP acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program Hot Milk (grant agreement No. 865637), from the Bando per il Finanziamento della Ricerca Fondamentale 2022 dell’Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF): GO Large program, and from the Framework per l’Attrazione e il Rafforzamento delle Eccellenze (FARE) per la ricerca in Italia (R20L5S39T9). We thank Chris Done for extending the optxagnf model to include negative black hole spin values. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. This work was supported by the Australian government through the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects funding scheme (DP200102471). This research has made use of data and/or software provided by the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), which is a service of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA/GSFC; NASA’s Astrophysics Data System Bibliographic Services (ADS), and the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Software used: SAS (Gabriel et al. 2004), numpy (Harris et al. 2020), Astropy (Astropy Collaboration 2013, 2018, 2022), matplotlib (Hunter 2007), Ultranest (Buchner 2021), Xspec (Arnaud 1996), pyXspec (Gordon & Arnaud 2021), BXA (Buchner et al. 2014). Based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA. We thank the referee for their constructive criticism that allowed us to improve our results and their presentation. MG is supported by the "Programa de Atracci n de Talento" of the Comunidad de Madrid, grant numbers 2018-T1/TIC-11733 and 2022-5A/TIC-24235. GM is supported by Grant PID2020-115325GB-C31 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. RA and PK acknowledge support from NASA through the NASA Hubble Fellowship grant HST-HF2-51534.001-A awarded by the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Incorporated, under NASA contract NAS5-26555. MB acknowledges support provided by MUR under grant "PNRR - Missione 4 Istruzione e Ricerca Componente 2 Dalla Ricerca all'Impresa Investimento 1.2 Finanziamento di progetti presentati da giovani ricercatori ID:SOE_0163" and by the University of Milano-Bicocca under grant "2022-NAZ-0482/B". XS is supported by NSFC through grant No. 12192221. GP acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program Hot Milk (grant agreement No. 865637), from the Bando per il Finanziamento della Ricerca Fondamentale 2022 dell'Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF): GO Large program, and from the Framework per l'Attrazione e il Ra_orzamento delle Eccellenze (FARE) per la ricerca in Italia (R20L5S39T9). We thank Chris Done for extending the optxagnf model to include negative black hole spin values. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. This work was supported by the Australian government through the Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding scheme (DP200102471). This research has made use of data and/or software provided by the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), which is a service of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA/GSFC; NASA's Astrophysics Data System Bibliographic Services (ADS), and the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Software used: SAS (Gabriel et al. 2004), numpy (Harris et al. 2020), Astropy (Astropy Collaboration 2013, 2018, 2022), matplotlib (Hunter 2007), Ultranest (Buchner 2021), Xspec (Arnaud 1996), pyXspec (Gordon & Arnaud 2021), BXA (Buchner et al. 2014). Based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| NASA | |
| European Space Agency | |
| Agencia Estatal de Investigación | |
| Ministry for University and Research | |
| Georgia Student Finance Commission | |
| European Commission | |
| Ministry for University and Research | |
| Infrared Processing and Analysis Center | |
| European Research Council | |
| National Institute for Astrophysics | |
| National Natural Science Foundation of China | 12192221 |
| Comunidad de Madrid | 2018-T1/TIC-11733, 2022-5A/TIC-24235, MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, PID2020-115325GB-C31 |
| Horizon Europe | 865637 |
| National Institute for Astrophysics | R20L5S39T9 |
| Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca | SOE_0163 |
| Space Telescope Science Institute | NAS5-26555 |
| Servicio Andaluz de Salud | 2020 |
| University of Milano-Bicocca | 2022-NAZ-0482/B |
| Australian Research Council | DP200102471 |
Keywords
- Galaxies: active
- Galaxies: individual:: RX J1301.9+2747
- Galaxies: nuclei
- Methods: data analysis
- Methods: observational
- Quasars: supermassive black holes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Fragments of harmony amid apparent chaos: a closer look at the X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions of the galaxy RX J1301.9+2747'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Cite this
- APA
- Standard
- Harvard
- Vancouver
- Author
- BIBTEX
- RIS