The Ultra-fast Outflow of the Quasar PG 1211+143 as Viewed by Time-averaged Chandra Grating Spectroscopy

Abstract

Abstract We present a detailed X-ray spectral study of the quasar PG 1211+143 based on Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS) observations collected in a multi-wavelength campaign with UV data using the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (HST-COS) and radio bands using the Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). We constructed a multi-wavelength ionizing spectral energy distribution using these observations and archival infrared data to create xstar photoionization models specific to the PG 1211+143 flux behavior during the epoch of our observations. Our analysis of the Chandra-HETGS spectra yields complex absorption lines from H-like and He-like ions of Ne, Mg, and Si, which confirm the presence of an ultra-fast outflow (UFO) with a velocity of approximately −17,300 km s−1 (outflow redshift z out ∼ −0.0561) in the rest frame of PG 1211+143. This absorber is well described by an ionization parameter and column density . This corresponds to a stable region of the absorber’s thermal stability curve, and furthermore its implied neutral hydrogen column is broadly consistent with a broad Lyα absorption line at a mean outflow velocity of approximately −16,980 km s−1 detected by our HST-COS observations. Our findings represent the first simultaneous detection of a UFO in both X-ray and UV observations. Our VLA observations provide evidence for an active jet in PG 1211+143, which may be connected to the X-ray and UV outflows; this possibility can be evaluated using very-long-baseline interferometric observations.