Kavli Affiliate: Robert A. Cameron
| First 5 Authors: Martin C. Weisskopf, Thomas L. Aldcroft, Robert A. Cameron, Poshak Gandhi, Cédric Foellmi
| Summary:
Before the official first-light images, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory
obtained an X-ray image of the field to which its focal plane was first
exposed. We describe this historic observation and report our study of the
first Chandra field. Chandra’s Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS)
detected 15 X-ray sources, the brightest being dubbed “Leon X-1” to honor the
Chandra Telescope Scientist, Leon Van Speybroeck. Based upon our analysis of
the X-ray data and spectroscopy at the European Southern Observatory (ESO; La
Silla, Chile), we find that Leon X-1 is a Type-1 (unobscured) active galactic
nucleus (AGN) at a redshift z=0.3207. Leon X-1 exhibits strong Fe II emission
and a broad-line Balmer decrement that is unusually flat for an AGN. Within the
context of the Eigenvector-1 correlation space, these properties suggest that
Leon X-1 may be a massive (> 10**{9} solar mass) black hole, accreting at a
rate approaching its Eddington limit.
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