The WISSHFUL program

We present the first results from the WISSHFUL program, an XMM-Newton heritage program targeting luminous quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) at cosmic noon. We report on recent simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations of the super-Eddington accreting quasar WISSH13 at z=3.294, which provide the highest-quality broadband X-ray spectrum to date for a non-lensed QSO at this redshift. Physical modeling of the continuum reveals a soft photon index (Gamma similar to 2) and strong reflection (R similar to 1.4-1.8), despite the weak narrow Fe emission, and a low high-energy cutoff (E-cut similar to 60-80 keV, kT(e) = 15-20 keV, depending on the model adopted). Most notably, we detect two significant absorption features (at confidence levels of 96.7% and 98.9%, respectively) at similar to 7.5 and similar to 10 keV in the rest-frame, interpreted as a blueshifted blend of Fe XXV He alpha and Fe XXVI Ly alpha. These features indicate the presence of two kinematic components of a highly ionized, high-column ultrafast outflow (UFO) with a velocity of v(out) similar to 0.1c and v(out) similar to 0.3c, respectively. The slower wind is consistently detected in an archival 2017 XMM-Newton observation, whereas the faster wind is detected only in 2024. This stratified and variable wind exhibits extreme energetics, with a mass outflow rate of M-out similar to 20 M-circle dot/yr (corresponding to 15% M-acc) for each component, and a kinetic power on the order of similar to 1 and similar to 10% of the bolometric luminosity, respectively. While this represents one of the most powerful UFOs ever detected, its kinetic power is a similar fraction of the QSO's bolometric luminosity compared to lower-redshift active galactic nuclei. We present several theoretical frameworks to explain the peculiar accretion and ejection properties of this remarkable QSO at cosmic noon.