Proving strong magnetic fields near to the central black hole in the quasar PG0043+039 via cyclotron lines

TL;DR

This study detects X-ray emission from quasar PG0043+039 and models its peculiar UV spectrum with cyclotron lines, revealing strong magnetic fields near its black hole.

Contribution

First detection of X-ray emission from PG0043+039 and modeling of its UV spectrum with cyclotron lines indicating intense magnetic fields.

Findings

Detected PG0043+039 in deep X-ray observations.

UV spectrum explained by cyclotron lines with plasma T ~ 3 keV.

Magnetic field strength estimated at ~2 x 10^8 G.

Abstract

The optical luminous quasar PG0043+039 has not been detected before in deep X-ray observations indicating the most extreme optical-to-X-ray slope index ${\alpha}_{ox}$ of all quasars. This study aims to detect PG0043+039 in a deep X-ray exposure. Furthermore, we wanted to check out whether this object shows specific spectral properties in other frequency bands. We took deep X-ray (XMM-Newton), far-ultraviolet (HST), and optical (HET, SALT telescopes) spectra of PG0043+039 simultaneously in July 2013. We just detected PG0043+039 in our deep X-ray exposure. The steep ${\alpha}_{ox} = -2.37 {\pm} 0.05$ gradient is consistent with an unusual steep gradient $F_{\nu} {\sim} {\nu}^{\alpha}$ with ${\alpha} = -2.67 {\pm} 0.02$ seen in the UV/far-UV continuum. The optical/UV continuum flux has a clear maximum near 2500 {\AA}. The UV spectrum is very peculiar because it shows broad humps in addition to known emission lines. A modeling of these observed humps with cyclotron lines can explain their wavelength positions, their relative distances, and their relative intensities. We derive plasma temperatures of T ${\sim}$ 3keV and magnetic field strengths of B ${\sim}$ 2 ${\times} 10^8$ G for the line-emitting regions close to the black hole.