SUMMARY OF PROPOSAL 81717
UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER
UNIVERSITY ROAD
LEICESTER
LEICESTERSHIRE UK LE1 7RH
Tel: +44 116 252 3510 Fax: +44 116 252 3311
Medium: CD ROM
Subject: AGN
EMISSION FROM CLOSE TO THE BLACK HOLE IN THE QUASAR PDS 456.
ABSTRACT
The radio-quiet quasar PDS456 is the most luminous object in the local (z<0.3) Universe, more luminous than the well known radio-loud quasar 3C 273. We plan to follow up our earlier X-ray observations (with ASCA and RXTE) of PDS456, which showed a complex X-ray spectrum, with strong iron K shell features and rapid variability of the X-ray continuum. In fact the continuum flux doubled in only 17 ksec, implying emission from within just 2 Schwarzschild radii of the putative massive black hole. Therefore the aims of this ASCA proposal are to study the fast X-ray variability and the iron K shell line profile in PDS 456, which could provide the clearest evidence yet to support the accretion disk paradigm in Active Galactic Nuclei.
CO-INVESTIGATORS
| CO-I NAME | INSTITUTE | COUNTRY |
|---|
| CHRIS SIMPSON | SUBARU TELESCOPE | JAPAN |
| PAUL O'BRIEN | LEICESTER UNIVERSITY | UK |
| MARTIN TURNER | LEICESTER UNIVERSITY | UK |
TARGETS
| TARGET NAME | PRI | RA | DEC | TIME | TC | OFF | GIS | SIS CNT | OBS |
|---|
| 1)PDS 456 | B | 262.0825 | -14.2656 | 300 ks | N | N | P | 0.35000 | 1 |