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At least 1,045 records · Page 58
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Predicted performance of a tangential viewing hard x-ray camera for the DIII-D high field side lower hybrid current drive experiment

High field side launch of lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) has improved accessibility and penetration over low field side launch on DIII-D. Simulations predict single pass absorption under a wide range of plasma conditions. Hard x-ray (HXR) measurement of LHCD generated fast electron bremsstrahlung (50–250 keV) will validate wave propagation and absorption. Emissivity profiles are recovered from one-dimensional inversion of HXR brightness to determine LH damping location, fast electron slowing down time, and some indication of the fast electron energy. The camera will be implemented by populating 32 tangential sightlines of the existing Gamma Ray Imager with Kromek SPEARTM Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) detectors sensitive to 10–1000 keV photons with 10 keV energy resolution. Expected count rates allow for <0.5 ms time resolution. Pulses are processed using 50 ns shaping time Cremat CR-200 Gaussian shaping modules and are digitized by 25 MHz D-TACQ ACQ216 digitizers. The performance of the HXR camera is evaluated by comparing predicted fast electron density profiles and inverted synthetic brightnesses obtained from the ray-tracing/Fokker–Planck codes GENRAY/CQL3D. Inversions closely matched predicted fast electron profiles for a range of experimental parameters.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Interface formation and Schottky barrier height for Y, Nb, Au, and Pt on Ge as determined by hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Development of a robust, thin, hole-blocking (n+) contact on high purity germanium (HPGe) has been the main challenge in the development of Ge-based radiation sensors. Yttrium has been reported to be a viable hole-blocking contact on HPGe, and detectors with low leakage have been fabricated. Niobium has also been considered as a potential hole-blocking contact due to its low work function. Here, we investigate interface chemistry and the Schottky barrier height of Y and Nb, as well as electron-blocking contacts Au and Pt, on Ge(100) surfaces using hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We find a barrier height of 1.05 ± 0.10 eV for Y/HPGe, confirming the formation of a hole-blocking barrier. For Nb/HPGe, the barrier height of 0.13 ± 0.10 eV demonstrates that the interface is not hole-blocking. The Schottky barrier of Au and Pt was found to be 0.45 ± 0.10 and 0.51 ± 0.10 eV, respectively.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Spatial calibration and synthetic diagnostic of a multi-energy hard x-ray camera at WEST tokamak

WEST (tungsten environment in steady-state tokamak) is starting operation for the first time with a water-cooled full tungsten divertor, enabling long pulse operation. Heating is provided by radiofrequency systems, including lower hybrid current drive (LHCD). In this context, a compact multi-energy hard x-ray camera has been installed for energy and space-resolved measurements of the electron temperature, the fast electron tail density produced by LHCD and runaway electrons, and the beam–target emission of tungsten at the target due to fast electron losses interacting with the divertor plates. The diagnostic is a pinhole camera based on a 2D pixel array detector (Pilatus 3 CdTe CMOS Hybrid-Pixel detector produced by DECTRIS). The novelty of this diagnostic technique is the detector’s capability of adjusting the threshold energy at pixel level. This innovation provides great flexibility in the energy configuration, allowing simultaneous space and energy-resolved x-ray measurements. This contribution details two important steps in the preparation of the diagnostic operation. First, the in-vessel spatial calibration that was carried out with a radioactive source. Second, the synthetic diagnostic is obtained by the suite of codes ALOHA/C3PO/LUKE/R5-X2, which simulates LH wave propagation and absorption, as well as the fast electron bremsstrahlung production.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Simulations of hard X-ray generation by hot electrons in a silver target

A semi-analytical model is developed for the generation of X-ray bremsstrahlung in metallic targets with the inclusion of hot electron recirculation (refluxing). The hard bremsstrahlung and characteristic X-ray yields are calculated in relation to the thickness of a silver target for an s-polarised subpicosecond laser pulse intensity of 2 × 10{sup 19} W cm{sup –2}. The effect of hot electron recirculation in thin foils is shown to significantly improve the K{sub α} radiation and bremsstrahlung yields in a photon energy of 10 – 100 keV. By contrast, the 0.1 – 1 MeV bremsstrahlung photon yield from thin foils with hot electron recirculation corresponds approximately to the highest photon yield from those targets in which recirculation is insignificant. We make a comparative analysis of the highest laser-to-X-ray energy conversion efficiencies obtained to date. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

ON THE NATURE OF HARD X-RAY EXTRAGALACTIC SOURCES OBSERVED WITH XMM-NEWTON

Over the last decade, X-ray surveys have provided outstanding new results due to the lack of the common selection effects present at other wavelengths. Here, we have selected a sample of unidentified sources from the XMM-Newton Slew Survey Catalog, likely to be extragalactic. Five of them were observed with the XMM-Newton observatory. In this work, we present the results of the spectral analysis of these objects in the X-ray and optical bands. Only three of them had useful spectroscopic X-ray data, and follow up observations were carried out in the optical range to determine their coordinates, classification, and redshift. The sources are different types of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with redshifts ranging from 0.059 to 0.386. The properties at both spectral ranges (X-rays and optical) are compatible with the common properties of their types of AGNs. Although the sources were selected by their hard X-ray properties, none of the three detected objects turned out to be an obscured AGN.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

HARD X-RAY AND ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATIONS OF THE 2005 JANUARY 15 TWO-RIBBON FLARE

It is well known that two-ribbon flares observed in H{alpha} and ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths mostly exhibit compact and localized hard X-ray (HXR) sources. In this paper, we present comprehensive analysis of a two-ribbon flare observed in UV 1600 A by Transition Region and Coronal Explorer and in HXRs by Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager. HXR (25-100 keV) imaging observations show two kernels of size (FWHM) 15'' moving along the two UV ribbons. We find the following results. (1) UV brightening is substantially enhanced wherever and whenever the compact HXR kernel is passing, and during the HXR transit across a certain region, the UV count light curve in that region is temporally correlated with the HXR total flux light curve. After the passage of the HXR kernel, the UV light curve exhibits smooth monotonical decay. (2) We measure the apparent motion speed of the HXR sources and UV ribbon fronts, and decompose the motion into parallel and perpendicular motions with respect to the magnetic polarity inversion line (PIL). It is found that HXR kernels and UV fronts exhibit similar apparent motion patterns and speeds. The parallel motion dominates during the rise of the HXR emission, and the perpendicular motion starts and dominates at the HXR peak, the apparent motion speed being 10-40 km s{sup -1}. (3) We also find that UV emission is characterized by a rapid rise correlated with HXRs, followed by a long decay on timescales of 15-30 minutes. The above analysis provides evidence that UV brightening is primarily caused by beam heating, which also produces thick-target HXR emission. The thermal origin of UV emission cannot be excluded, but would produce weaker heating by one order of magnitude. The extended UV ribbons in this event are most likely a result of sequential reconnection along the PIL, which produces individual flux tubes (post-flare loops), subsequent non-thermal energy release and heating in these flux tubes, and then the very long cooling time of the transition region at the feet of these flux tubes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

EVOLUTION OF HARD X-RAY SOURCES AND ULTRAVIOLET SOLAR FLARE RIBBONS FOR A CONFINED ERUPTION OF A MAGNETIC FLUX ROPE

We study the magnetic field structures of hard X-ray (HXR) sources and flare ribbons of the M1.1 flare in active region NOAA 10767 on 2005 May 27. We have found in a nonlinear force-free field extrapolation over the same polarity inversion line, a small pre-eruptive magnetic flux rope located next to sheared magnetic arcades. RHESSI and the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) observed this confined flare in the X-ray bands and ultraviolet (UV) 1600 A bands, respectively. In this event magnetic reconnection occurred at several locations. It first started at the location of the pre-eruptive flux rope. Then, the observations indicate that magnetic reconnection occurred between the pre-eruptive magnetic flux rope and the sheared magnetic arcades more than 10 minutes before the flare peak. This implies the formation of the larger flux rope, as observed with TRACE. Next, HXR sources appeared at the footpoints of this larger flux rope at the peak of the flare. The associated high-energy particles may have been accelerated below the flux rope in or around a reconnection region. Still, the close spatial association between the HXR sources and the flux rope footpoints favors an acceleration within the flux rope. Finally, a topological analysis of a large solar region, including active regions NOAA 10766 and 10767, shows the existence of large-scale Quasi-Separatrix Layers (QSLs) before the eruption of the flux rope. No enhanced emission was found at these QSLs during the flare, but the UV flare ribbons stopped at the border of the closest large-scale QSL.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

BAYESIAN CONFIDENCE LIMITS OF ELECTRON SPECTRA OBTAINED THROUGH REGULARIZED INVERSION OF SOLAR HARD X-RAY SPECTRA

Many astrophysical observations are characterized by a single, non-repeatable measurement of a source brightness or intensity, from which we are to construct estimates for the true intensity and its uncertainty. For example, the hard X-ray count spectrum from transient events such as solar flares can be observed only once, and from this single spectrum one must determine the best estimate of the underlying source spectrum I({epsilon}), and hence the form of the responsible electron spectrum F(E). Including statistical uncertainties on the measured count spectrum yields a 'confidence strip' that delineates the boundaries of electron spectra that are consistent with the observed photon spectrum. In this short article, we point out that the expectation values of the source brightness and its variance in a given photon energy bin are in general not (as has been assumed in prior works) equal to n, the number of counts observed in that energy bin. Rather, they depend both on n and on prior knowledge of the overall photon spectrum. Using Bayesian statistics, we provide an explicit procedure and formulas for determining the 'confidence strip' (Bayesian credible region) for F(E), thus providing rigorous bounds on the intensity and shape of the accelerated electron spectrum.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

A MODEL FOR THE CORRELATION OF HARD X-RAY INDEX WITH EDDINGTON RATIO IN BLACK HOLE X-RAY BINARIES

Observations show that there is a positive correlation between the Eddington ratio {lambda} and hard X-ray index {Gamma} for {lambda} {approx}> 0.01, and there is an anti-correlation between {lambda} and {Gamma} for {lambda} {approx}< 0.01 in black hole X-ray binaries (with {lambda} = L {sub bol}/L {sub Edd}). In this work, we theoretically investigate the correlation between {Gamma} and {lambda} within the framework of a disk-corona model. We improve the model by taking into account all cooling processes, including synchrotron and self-Compton radiations in the corona, Comptonization of the soft photons from the underlying accretion disk, and the bremsstrahlung radiations. Presuming that the coronal flow above the disk can reach up to the 0.1 Eddington rate at the outer region, we calculate the structure of the two-phase accretion flows and the emergent spectra for accretion rates from 0.003 to 0.1. We find that at accretion rates larger than bsim0.01 Eddington rate, a fraction of coronal gas condenses into the disk and an inner disk can be sustained by condensation. In this case, the X-ray emission is dominated by the scattering of the soft photon from the underlying disk in the corona. The emission from the inner disk and corona can produce the positive correlation between {lambda} and {Gamma}. While at accretion rates lower than bsim0.01 Eddington accretion rate, the inner disk vanishes completely by evaporation, and the accretion is dominated by advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs), in which the X-ray emission is produced by the Comptonization of the synchrotron and bremsstrahlung photons of ADAF itself. The emission from ADAFs can produce the anti-correlation between {lambda} and {Gamma}. We show that our model can roughly explain the observed evolution of {Gamma}{sub 3-25keV} with L {sub 0.5-25keV}/L {sub Edd} for the black hole X-ray transient H1743-322 in the decay of 2003 from the thermal-dominated state to low/hard state.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

KAPPA DISTRIBUTION MODEL FOR HARD X-RAY CORONAL SOURCES OF SOLAR FLARES

Solar flares produce hard X-ray emission, the photon spectrum of which is often represented by a combination of thermal and power-law distributions. However, the estimates of the number and total energy of non-thermal electrons are sensitive to the determination of the power-law cutoff energy. Here, we revisit an 'above-the-loop' coronal source observed by RHESSI on 2007 December 31 and show that a kappa distribution model can also be used to fit its spectrum. Because the kappa distribution has a Maxwellian-like core in addition to a high-energy power-law tail, the emission measure and temperature of the instantaneous electrons can be derived without assuming the cutoff energy. Moreover, the non-thermal fractions of electron number/energy densities can be uniquely estimated because they are functions of only the power-law index. With the kappa distribution model, we estimated that the total electron density of the coronal source region was {approx}2.4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 10} cm{sup -3}. We also estimated without assuming the source volume that a moderate fraction ({approx}20%) of electrons in the source region was non-thermal and carried {approx}52% of the total electron energy. The temperature was 28 MK, and the power-law index {delta} of the electron density distribution was -4.3. These results are compared to the conventional power-law models with and without a thermal core component.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Polarimetry in the hard X-ray domain with INTEGRAL SPI

We present recent improvements in polarization analysis with the INTEGRAL SPI data. The SPI detector plane consists of 19 independent Ge crystals and can operate as a polarimeter. The anisotropy characteristics of Compton diffusions can provide information on the polarization parameters of the incident flux. By including the physics of the polarized Compton process in the instrument simulation, we are able to determine the instrument response for a linearly polarized emission at any position angle. We compare the observed data with the simulation sets by a minimum χ{sup 2} technique to determine the polarization parameters of the source (angle and fraction). We have tested our analysis procedure with Crab Nebula observations and find a position angle similar to those previously reported in the literature, with a comfortable significance. Since the instrument response depends on the incident angle, each exposure in the SPI data requires its own set of simulations, calculated for 18 polarization angles (from 0° to 170° in steps of 10°) and unpolarized emission. The analysis of a large number of observations for a given source, required to obtain statistically significant results, represents a large amount of computing time, but it is the only way to access this complementary information in the hard X-ray regime. Indeed, major scientific advances are expected from such studies since the observational results will help to discriminate between the different models proposed for the high energy emission of compact objects like X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei or gamma-ray bursts.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE FIRST HARD X-RAY POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY FUNCTIONS OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS

We present results of our power spectral density (PSD) analysis of 30 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using the 58 month light curves from Swift's Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) in the 14-150 keV band. PSDs were fit using a Monte Carlo based algorithm to take into account windowing effects and measurement error. All but one source were found to be fit very well using an unbroken power law with a slope of {approx} - 1, consistent at low frequencies with previous studies in the 2-10 keV band, with no evidence of a break in the PSD. For five of the highest signal-to-noise ratio sources, we tested the energy dependence of the PSD and found no significant difference in the PSD at different energies. Unlike previous studies of X-ray variability in AGNs, we do not find any significant correlations between the hard X-ray variability and different properties of the AGN including luminosity and black hole mass. The lack of break frequencies and correlations seem to indicate that AGNs are similar to the high state of Galactic black holes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

PLASMA HEATING IN A POST ERUPTION CURRENT SHEET: A CASE STUDY BASED ON ULTRAVIOLET, SOFT, AND HARD X-RAY DATA

Off-limb observations of the solar corona after coronal mass ejections (CMEs) often show strong, compact, and persistent UV sources behind the eruption. They are primarily observed by the SOHO/UVCS instrument in the 'hot' [Fe XVIII] λ974 line and are usually interpreted as a signature of plasma heating due to magnetic reconnection in the post-CME current sheet (CS). Nevertheless, the physical process itself and the altitude of the main energy release are currently not fully understood. In this work, we study the evolution of plasma heating after the CME of 2004 July 28 by comparing UV spectra acquired by UVCS with soft and hard X-ray (SXR, HXR) images of the post-flare loops taken by GOES/SXI and RHESSI. The X-ray data show a long-lasting extended source that is rising upward, toward the high-temperature source detected by UVCS. UVCS data show the presence of significant non-thermal broadening in the CS (a signature of turbulent motions) and a strong density gradient across the CS region. The thermal energy released in the HXR source is on the order of ∼10{sup 32} erg, a factor ∼2-5 larger than the energy required to explain the high-temperature plasma sampled by UVCS. Nevertheless, the very different time evolutions of SXR and HXR sources compared with the UV emission suggest that reconnection occurring above the post-eruption arcades is not directly responsible for the high-temperature plasma sampled higher up by UVCS. We conclude that an additional plasma heating mechanism (such as turbulent reconnection) in the CS is likely required.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

SN 2010jl: Optical to hard X-ray observations reveal an explosion embedded in a ten solar mass cocoon

Some supernovae (SNe) may be powered by the interaction of the SN ejecta with a large amount of circumstellar matter (CSM). However, quantitative estimates of the CSM mass around such SNe are missing when the CSM material is optically thick. Specifically, current estimators are sensitive to uncertainties regarding the CSM density profile and the ejecta velocity. Here we outline a method to measure the mass of the optically thick CSM around such SNe. We present new visible-light and X-ray observations of SN 2010jl (PTF 10aaxf), including the first detection of an SN in the hard X-ray band using NuSTAR. The total radiated luminosity of SN 2010jl is extreme—at least 9 × 10{sup 50} erg. By modeling the visible-light data, we robustly show that the mass of the circumstellar material within ∼10{sup 16} cm of the progenitor of SN 2010jl was in excess of 10 M {sub ☉}. This mass was likely ejected tens of years prior to the SN explosion. Our modeling suggests that the shock velocity during shock breakout was ∼6000 km s{sup –1}, decelerating to ∼2600 km s{sup –1} about 2 yr after maximum light. Furthermore, our late-time NuSTAR and XMM spectra of the SN presumably provide the first direct measurement of SN shock velocity 2 yr after the SN maximum light—measured to be in the range of 2000-4500 km s{sup –1} if the ions and electrons are in equilibrium, and ≳ 2000 km s{sup –1} if they are not in equilibrium. This measurement is in agreement with the shock velocity predicted by our modeling of the visible-light data. Our observations also show that the average radial density distribution of the CSM roughly follows an r {sup –2} law. A possible explanation for the ≳ 10 M {sub ☉} of CSM and the wind-like profile is that they are the result of multiple pulsational pair instability events prior to the SN explosion, separated from each other by years.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Plasma heating in solar flares and their soft and hard X-ray emissions

In this paper, the energy budgets of two single-loop-like flares observed in X-ray are analyzed under the assumption that nonthermal electrons (NTEs) are the only source of plasma heating during all phases of both events. The flares were observed by RHESSI and GOES on 2002 February 20 and June 2, respectively. Using a one-dimensional (1D) hydrodynamic code for both flares, the energy deposited in the chromosphere was derived applying RHESSI observational data. The use of the Fokker-Planck formalism permits the calculation of distributions of the NTEs in flaring loops and thus spatial distributions of the X-ray nonthermal emissions and integral fluxes for the selected energy ranges that were compared with the observed ones. Additionally, a comparative analysis of the spatial distributions of the signals in the RHESSI images was conducted for the footpoints and for all the flare loops in selected energy ranges with these quantities' fluxes obtained from the models. The best compatibility of the model and observations was obtained for the 2002 June 2 event in the 0.5-4 Å GOES range and total fluxes in the 6-12 keV, 12-25 keV, 20-25 keV, and 50-100 keV energy bands. Results of photometry of the individual flaring structures in a high energy range show that the best compliance occurred for the 2002 June 2 flare, where the synthesized emissions were at least 30% higher than the observed emissions. For the 2002 February 20 flare, synthesized emission is about four times lower than the observed one. However, in the low energy range the best conformity was obtained for the 2002 February 20 flare, where emission from the model is about 11% lower than the observed one. The larger inconsistency occurs for the 2002 June 2 solar flare, where synthesized emission is about 12 times greater or even more than the observed emission. Some part of these differences may be caused by inevitable flaws of the applied methodology, like by an assumption that the model of the flare is symmetric and there are no differences in the emissions originating from the feet of the flares loop and by relative simplicity of the applied numerical 1D code and procedures. No doubt a significant refinement of the applied numerical models and more sophisticated implementation of the various physical mechanisms involved are required to achieve a better agreement. Despite these problems, a collation of modeled results with observations shows that soft and hard X-ray emissions observed for analyzed single-loop-like events may be fully explained by electron-beam-driven evaporation only.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Hard X-ray emission and {sup 44}Ti line features of the Tycho supernova remnant

A deep hard X-ray survey of the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) satellite has detected for the first time non-thermal emission up to 90 keV in the Tycho supernova (SN) remnant. Its 3-100 keV spectrum is fitted with a thermal bremsstrahlung of kT ∼ 0.81 ± 0.45 keV plus a power-law model of Γ ∼ 3.01 ± 0.16. Based on diffusive shock acceleration theory, this non-thermal emission, together with radio measurements, implies that the Tycho remnant may not accelerate protons up to >PeV but to hundreds TeV. Only heavier nuclei may be accelerated to the cosmic ray spectral 'knee'. In addition, using INTEGRAL, we search for soft gamma-ray lines at 67.9 and 78.4 keV that come from the decay of radioactive {sup 44}Ti in the Tycho remnant. A bump feature in the 60-90 keV energy band, potentially associated with the {sup 44}Ti line emission, is found with a marginal significance level of ∼2.6σ. The corresponding 3σ upper limit on the {sup 44}Ti line flux amounts to 1.5 × 10{sup –5} photon cm{sup –2} s{sup –1}. Implications on the progenitor of the Tycho SN, considered to be a Type Ia SN prototype, are discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

SOLAR HARD X-RAY SOURCE SIZES IN A BEAM-HEATED AND IONIZED CHROMOSPHERE

Solar flare hard X-rays (HXRs) are produced as bremsstrahlung when an accelerated population of electrons interacts with the dense chromospheric plasma. HXR observations presented by Kontar et al. using the Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager have shown that HXR source sizes are three to six times more extended in height than those predicted by the standard collisional thick target model (CTTM). Several possible explanations have been put forward including the multi-threaded nature of flare loops, pitch-angle scattering, and magnetic mirroring. However, the nonuniform ionization (NUI) structure along the path of the electron beam has not been fully explored as a solution to this problem. Ionized plasma is known to be less effective at producing nonthermal bremsstrahlung HXRs when compared to neutral plasma. If the peak HXR emission was produced in a locally ionized region within the chromosphere, the intensity of emission will be preferentially reduced around this peak, resulting in a more extended source. Due to this effect, along with the associated density enhancement in the upper chromosphere, injection of a beam of electrons into a partially ionized plasma should result in an HXR source that is substantially more vertically extended relative to that for a neutral target. Here we present the results of a modification to the CTTM, which takes into account both a localized form of chromospheric NUI and an increased target density. We find 50 keV HXR source widths, with and without the inclusion of a locally ionized region, of ∼3 Mm and ∼0.7 Mm, respectively. This helps to provide a theoretical solution to the currently open question of overly extended HXR sources.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

CORONAL PROPERTIES OF THE SEYFERT 1.9 GALAXY MCG-05-23-016 DETERMINED FROM HARD X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY WITH NuSTAR

Measurements of the high-energy cut-off in the coronal continuum of active galactic nuclei have long been elusive for all but a small number of the brightest examples. We present a direct measurement of the cut-off energy in the nuclear continuum of the nearby Seyfert 1.9 galaxy MCG-05-23-016 with unprecedented precision. The high sensitivity of NuSTAR up to 79 keV allows us to clearly disentangle the spectral curvature of the primary continuum from that of its reflection component. Using a simple phenomenological model for the hard X-ray spectrum, we constrain the cut-off energy to 116{sub −5}{sup +6} keV with 90% confidence. Testing for more complex models and nuisance parameters that could potentially influence the measurement, we find that the cut-off is detected robustly. We further use simple Comptonized plasma models to provide independent constraints for both the kinetic temperature of the electrons in the corona and its optical depth. At the 90% confidence level, we find kT{sub e} = 29 ± 2 keV and τ {sub e} = 1.23 ± 0.08 assuming a slab (disk-like) geometry, and kT{sub e} = 25 ± 2 keV and τ {sub e} = 3.5 ± 0.2 assuming a spherical geometry. Both geometries are found to fit the data equally well and their two principal physical parameters are correlated in both cases. With the optical depth in the τ {sub e} ≳ 1 regime, the data are pushing the currently available theoretical models of the Comptonized plasma to the limits of their validity. Since the spectral features and variability arising from the inner accretion disk have been observed previously in MCG-05-23-016, the inferred high optical depth implies that a spherical or disk-like corona cannot be homogeneous.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗