NuSTAR reveals the extreme properties of the super-Eddington accreting SMBH in PG 1247+267

TL;DR

This study uses NuSTAR and XMM-Newton data to investigate the high-energy emission of the luminous, super-Eddington accreting quasar PG 1247+267 at z~2, revealing complex reflection features and multiple plausible models.

Contribution

First detailed X-ray analysis of PG 1247+267 combining NuSTAR and XMM-Newton data, exploring different scenarios for its extreme reflection and accretion properties.

Findings

Soft power law with $\Gamma=2.3$ supports super-Eddington accretion.

Weak ionized Fe emission line observed.

High reflection component explained by multiple models.

Abstract

PG1247+267 is one of the most luminous known quasars at $z\sim2$ and is a strongly super-Eddington accreting SMBH candidate. We obtained NuSTAR data of this intriguing source in December 2014 with the aim of studying its high-energy emission, leveraging the broad band covered by the new NuSTAR and the archival XMM-Newton data. Several measurements are in agreement with the super-Eddington scenario for PG1247+267: the soft power law ($\Gamma=2.3\pm0.1$); the weak ionized Fe emission line and a hint of the presence of outflowing ionized gas surrounding the SMBH. The presence of an extreme reflection component is instead at odds with the high accretion rate proposed for this quasar. This can be explained with three different scenarios; all of them are in good agreement with the existing data, but imply very different conclusions: i) a variable primary power law observed in a low state, superimposed on a reflection component echoing a past, higher flux state; ii) a power law continuum obscured by an ionized, Compton thick, partial covering absorber; and iii) a relativistic disk reflector in a lamp-post geometry, with low coronal height and high BH spin. The first model is able to explain the high reflection component in terms of variability. The second does not require any reflection to reproduce the hard emission, while a rather low high-energy cutoff of $\sim100$ keV is detected for the first time in such a high redshift source. The third model require a face-on geometry, which may affect the SMBH mass and Eddington ratio measurements. Deeper X-ray broad-band data are required in order to distinguish between these possibilities.