U 1344 − 60 : a bright intermediate Seyfert galaxy at z = 0 . 012 with a relativistic Fe K α emission line ⋆

We present analysis of the optical and X-ray spectra of the low Galactic latitude bright (F2−10 = 3.6 × 10 erg cm s) source 4U 1344−60. On the basis of the optical data we propose to classify 4U 1344−60 as an intermediate type Seyfert galaxy and we measure a value of z = 0.012±0.001 for its redshift. From the XMM– Newton observation we find that the overall X–ray spectral shape of 4U 1344−60 is complex and can be described by a power-law continuum (Γ ≈ 1.55) obscured by two neutral absorption components (N H ∼ 10 cm and N H ∼ 4 × 10 cm), the latter covering only the ∼ 50% of the primary X-ray source. The X-ray data therefore lend support to our classification of 4U 1344−60. It exhibits a broad and skewed Fe Kα line at ∼ 6.4 keV, which suggests the existence of an accretion disk that is able to reprocess the primary continuum down to a few gravitational radii. Such a line represents one of the clearest examples of a relativistic line observed by XMM– Newton so far. Our analysis has also revealed the marginal presence of two narrow line-like emission features at ∼ 4.9 and ∼ 5.2 keV.