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Session 90 - High Energy Phenomena in AGNs.
Oral session, Friday, January 09
Georgetown,
We report the detection with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer of the signature of Compton reflection in the Seyfert galaxy MCG-5-23-16. RXTE also resolves the Fe K\alpha emission line with FWHM \sim 48,000 km s^-1. This measurement provides the first independent confirmation of ASCA detections in Seyfert galaxies of broad Fe K\alpha lines that are thought to be the signature of emission from the inner regions of an accretion disk orbiting a black hole. Under the assumption that the observed reflection arises from an isotropic source located above a standard thin accretion disk, and using a theoretical model that accounts for the dependence of the reflected spectrum on inclination angle, we derive an inclination angle for the disk normal relative to the observer of 81^+5_-8 degrees. Such a large inclination is consistent with the expected geometry for the accretion disk in MCG-5-23-16 based on its Seyfert 1.9 classification.
