Flaring from the supermassive black hole in Mrk 335 studied with Swift and NuSTAR

TL;DR

This study analyzes a significant X-ray flare in the Seyfert galaxy Mrk 335 using Swift and NuSTAR data, revealing a jet-like ejection of the corona causing the flare and low reflection fraction.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed joint spectral analysis of the flare, suggesting a novel jet-like corona ejection mechanism in an active galactic nucleus.

Findings

The flare involved a tenfold increase in X-ray flux.

The corona was compact, extending at most 5.2 gravitational radii.

A low reflection fraction indicates a beamed, jet-like corona ejection.

Abstract

Monitoring of the narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxy Markarian 335 (Mrk 335) with the Swift satellite discovered an X-ray flare beginning 2014 August 29. At the peak, the 0.5-5keV count rate had increased from that in the low flux state by a factor of 10. A target of opportunity observation was triggered with NuSTAR, catching the decline of the flare on 2014 September 20. We present a joint analysis of Swift and NuSTAR observations to understand the cause of this flare. The X-ray spectrum shows an increase in directly observed continuum flux and the softening of the continuum spectrum to a photon index of 2.49 (-0.07,+0.08) compared to the previous low flux observations. The X-ray spectrum remains well-described by the relativistically blurred reflection of the continuum from the accretion disc whose emissivity profile suggests that it is illuminated by a compact X-ray source, extending at most 5.2rg over the disc. A very low reflection fraction of 0.41 (-0.15,+0.15) is measured, unexpected for such a compact corona. The X-ray flare is, hence, interpreted as arising from the vertical collimation and ejection of the X-ray emitting corona at a mildly relativistic velocity, causing the continuum emission to be beamed away from the disc. As the flare subsides, the base of this jet-like structure collapses into a compact X-ray source that provides the majority of the radiation that illuminates the disc while continuum emission is still detected from energetic particles further out, maintaining the low reflection fraction.