A high velocity ionised outflow and XUV photosphere in the narrow emission line quasar PG 1211 + 143

A high velocity ionised outflow and XUV photosphere in the narrow emission line quasar PG1211+143 ABSTRACT We report on the analysis of a ∼60 ksec XMM-Newton observation of the bright, narrow emission line quasar PG1211+143. Absorption lines are seen in both EPIC and RGS spectra corresponding to Hand He-like ions of Fe, S, Mg, Ne, O, N and C. The observed line energies indicate an ionised outflow velocity of ∼24000 km s −1. The highest energy lines require a column density of N H ∼5 × 10 23 cm −2 , at an ionisation parameter of logξ∼3.4. If the origin of this high velocity outflow lies in matter being driven from the inner disc, then the flow is likely to be optically thick within a radius ∼130 Schwarzschild radii, providing a natural explanation for the Big Blue Bump (and strong soft X-ray) emission in PG1211+143.