Article Dans Une Revue Astronomy & Astrophysics - A&A Année : 2003

XMM-Newton observation of the brightest X-ray flare detected so far from Sgr A*

Résumé

We report the high S/N observation on October 3, 2002 with XMM-Newton of the brightest X-ray flare detected so far from Sgr A* with a duration shorter than one hour ( ~ 2.7 ks). The light curve is almost symmetrical with respect to the peak flare, and no significant difference between the soft and hard X-ray range is detected. The overall flare spectrum is well represented by an absorbed power-law with a soft photon spectral index of Gamma =2.5 +/-0.3, and a peak 2-10 keV luminosity of 3.6+0.3-0.4*E35 erg s-1, i.e. a factor 160 higher than the Sgr A* quiescent value. No significant spectral change during the flare is observed. This X-ray flare is very different from other bright flares reported so far: it is much brighter and softer. The present accurate determination of the flare characteristics challenge the current interpretation of the physical processes occuring inside the very close environment of Sgr A* by bringing very strong constraints for the theoretical flare models.

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hal-02337762 , version 1 (17-01-2025)

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D. Porquet, P. Predehl, B. Aschenbach, N. Grosso, A. Goldwurm, et al.. XMM-Newton observation of the brightest X-ray flare detected so far from Sgr A*. Astronomy & Astrophysics - A&A, 2003, 407 (1), pp.L17-L20. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361:20030983⟩. ⟨hal-02337762⟩
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