Evidence for ionized reprocessing in the X - ray spectrum of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy 1 E 1615 + 061

The Seyfert 1 galaxy 1E 1615+061 was observed to display a very steep (Γ ' 4.2) and intense soft X-ray spectrum during a HEAO-1 A2 observation in the 1978. Such an exceptionally soft X-ray state has never been observed subsequently, but the source has continued to exhibit a large (up to a factor 6) range of X-ray intensity variability. The overall UV/Xray spectrum of this source, observed during a multiwavelength campaign in 1991–1992, can be well fit with a self-consistent, low-Ṁ accretion disk model. In this model, the soft X-rays result were suggested to arise from reflection of the nuclear emission by mildly ionized (ξ ' 100) material in the inner regions of the disk. In this Paper we report the results of an ASCA observation in 1995 August, which give a direct confirmation of such a scenario. The spectrum may be modeled as a power-law with a photon index of 1.8, together with absorption consistent with the galactic line of sight value, substantial reflection from ionized material and an iron fluorescent Kα emission line. The centroid energy ('6.6–6.8 keV) implies a ionization stage ≥ Fexix. The line profile is consistent with that expected from a kinematically and gravitationally distorted line around a black hole. These results provide the first direct evidence for the existence of considerable amount of ionized material around the nucleus of a “broad” Seyfert 1 galaxy.