Evidence of a high velocity ionised outflow in a second narrow line quasar PG0844+349

Following the discovery of X-ray absorption in a high velocity outflow from the bright quasar PG1211+143 we have searched for similar features in XMM-Newton archival data of a second (high accretion rate) quasar PG0844+349. Evidence is found for several faint absorption lines in both the EPIC and RGS spectra, whose most likely identification with resonance transitions in H-like Fe, S, and Ne implies an origin in highly ionised matter with an outflow velocity of order ∼0.2c. The line equivalent widths require a line-of-sight column density of NH∼4 × 10 cm, at an ionisation parameter of logξ∼3.7. Assuming a radial outflow being driven by radiation pressure from the inner accretion disc, as suggested previously for PG1211+143, the flow in PG0844+349 is also likely to be optically thick, in this case within ∼25 Schwarzschild radii. If confirmed by better data our analysis suggests that a high velocity, highly ionised outflow is likely to be a significant component in the mass and energy budgets of AGN accreting at or above the Eddington rate.