NRAO/Socorro Colloquium Series

Jon Miller

University of Michigan


Relativistic Iron Lines in Accreting Black Holes


In a number of Seyfert-1 AGN and stellar-mass black holes in binaries, X-ray spectra reveal broadened and asymmetric Fe K lines shaped by relativistic effects close to the black hole. These lines are powerful diagnostics of the inner accretion flow; they can reveal a wealth of information on the accretion disk, the nature of the hard X-ray "corona", and (most importantly) the spin of the black hole. The robustness of these lines has been questioned in the recent past, but new observations and systematic analyses reveal relativistic lines to be robust and common features. This talk will review recent progress with relativistic iron lines and discuss future directions.






November 3, 2006
11:00 a.m.

Array Operations Center Auditorium

All NRAO employees are invited to attend via video, available in Charlottesville Room 230, Green Bank Room 137 and Tucson N525.

Local Host: