A high-velocity ionized outflow and XUV photosphere in the narrow emission line quasar PG1211+143

Authors: K. A. Pounds, J. N. Reeves, A. R. King, K. L. Page, P. T. O’Brien, Martin Turner - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2003 cited by 443

We report on the analysis of a ∼60-ks XMM–Newton observation of the bright, narrow emission line quasar PG1211+143. Absorption lines are seen in both European Photon Imaging Camera and Reflection Grating Spectrometer spectra corresponding to H- and He-like ions of Fe, S, Mg, Ne, O, N and C. The observed line energies indicate an ionized outflow velocity of ∼24 000 km s−1. The highest energy lines require a column density of NH∼ 5 × 1023 cm−2, at an ionization parameter of log ξ∼ 3.4. If the origin of this high-velocity outflow lies in matter being driven from the inner disc, then the flow is likely to be optically thick within a radius of ∼130 Schwarzschild radii, providing a natural explanation for the big blue bump (and strong soft X-ray) emission in PG1211+143.