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D.R. Ballantyne (CITA, Toronto), A.C. Fabian, S. Vaughan (IoA, Cambridge)
Ionized reflection has often been considered as the explanation for the unusual Fe K\alpha line variability observed in MCG--6-30-15. In this paper, we present ionized reflection fits to a 325 ks observation of MCG--6-30-15 by \textit{XMM-Newton} and \textit{BeppoSAX} to test this model. The data are fit between 2.5 and 80 keV using the constant density models of Ross & Fabian. Our best fit model requires the Fe K\alpha line to be split into two reprocessing events: one from the inner disc to build up the red wing, and the other from more distant material to fit the blue horn. A good fit was obtained with a solar abundance of iron and a reflection fraction (R) of one for the inner reflector. However, the combination of the two reflection spectra mimics one with R>2 as required by the \textit{BeppoSAX} data. The inner reflector is ionized with \log \xi =3.8, and the outer reflector is neutral. The distant reflector has an inner radius of 71 gravitational radii (rg) which corresponds to a light crossing time of about an hour for a 107~M\odot black hole. Thus, the double reflector model can explain many of the Fe K\alpha variability characteristics previously observed in MCG--6-30-15. However, the ionized reflection spectrum from the inner component, which contributes 94% of the 2--10~keV flux, is constrained to arise from a narrow annulus between 4.93 and 5.01~rg. This is extremely difficult to produce without resorting to other energy sources such as the black hole spin.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.