Context. We analyzed Suzaku data of the black hole candidate 4U 1630-472 when it was in the high/soft state. The source, known for X-ray outbursts and for absorption dips, has an X-ray continuum spectrum that is interpreted correctly as emission from an accretion disk. Additionally, two absorption lines from He and H-like iron have been clearly detected in the high-resolution data from 4U 1630-472. Aims. We show that the continuum X-ray spectrum of 4U 1630-472 with iron absorption lines can be satisfactorily modeled by the spectrum from an accretion disk atmosphere. Absorption lines of highly ionized iron originating in a hot accretion-disk atmosphere can be an alternative or complementary explanation to the wind model usually favored for this type of sources. Methods. We performed full radiative transfer calculations to model the emission from an accretion disk surface that is seen at different viewing angles using our transfer code ATM21. Computed models are then fitted to high-resolution X-ray spectra of 4U 1630-472 obtained by the Suzaku satellite. Results. We modeled continuum and line spectra using a single model. Absorption lines of highly ionized iron can originate in the upper parts of the disk atmosphere, which is intrinsically hot because of the high disk temperature. Iron line profiles computed with natural, thermal, and pressure broadenings match observations very well. Conclusions. According to any global disk models considered for the mass of central object that is close to 10 M or less, the effective temperature of the inner radii reaches 10 7 K. We showed that the accretion disk atmosphere can effectively produce iron absorption lines observed in 4U 1630-472 spectrum. Absorption line arising in an accretion disk atmosphere is the important part of the observed line profile, even if there are also other mechanisms responsible for the absorption features. Nevertheless, the wind theory can be an artefact of the fitting procedure when the continuum and lines are fitted as separate model components.

Context. We performed timing and spectral analyses of multi-epoch Suzaku, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) Circinus ULX5 with the aim of putting constraints on the mass of the central object and the accretion mode operating in this source. Aims. We investigate whether the source contains a stellar mass black hole (BH) with a super-Eddington accretion flow or an intermediate mass black hole accreting matter in a sub-Eddington mode. Moreover, we search for major observed changes in spectra and timing and determine whether they are associated with major structural changes in the disk, similarly to those in black hole X-ray binaries. Methods. We collected all available broadband data from 2001 to 2018 including Suzaku, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR. We a performed timing and spectral analyses to study the relation between luminosity and inner disk temperature. We proceeded with time-averaged spectral analysis using phenomenological models of different accretion modes. Finally, we constructed the hardness ratio versus intensity diagram to reveal spectral state transitions in Circinus ULX5. Results. Our spectral analysis revealed at least three distinctive spectral states of Circinus ULX5 that are analagous to state transitions in Galactic black hole X-ray binaries. Disk-dominated spectra are found in high flux states and the power-law dominated spectra are found in lower flux states. The source was also observed in an intermediate state, where the flux was low, but the spectrum is dominated by a disk component. Over eighteen years of collected data, ULX5 appeared two times in the high, three times in the low, and two times in the intermediate state. The fastest observed transition was ∼seven months. Conclusions. Our analysis suggests that the central object in Circinus ULX5 is a stellar mass BH (< 10 M⊙) or, possibly, a neutron star (NS) despite there being no detection of pulsations in the light curves. The fractional variability amplitudes are consistent with state transitions in Circinus ULX5, wherein higher variability from the power law-like Comptonized emission becomes suppressed in the thermal disk-dominated state.

We study the hydrogen ionization instability mechanism in the context of low-mass X-ray binaries with a black hole as a central object. We make numerical calculations of the predicted outbursts’ light curves and compare them to the data observed by X-ray satellites. The comparison to the data is done for five sources observed by RXTE/ASM (XTE J1550−564, 4U 1630−472, XTE J1859+226, GX 339-4, XTE J1818−245) and one source observed by MAXI (MAXI J1659−152). The aim of this paper is to show that the hydrogen ionization instability operating in an accretion disk is responsible for the shape of outbursts observed in low-mass X-ray binaries. From the data fitting process, we put tight constraints on global source parameters such as black hole mass and disk accretion rate. The influence of chemical composition on the overall analysis is also shown. In the case of each outburst, we found the overall bolometric light curve shape that qualitatively matches the data. We were able to model the main outburst and secondary reflare often seen in the data, the latter one caused by the presence of metals in disk gas. In the case of 4U 1630−472, we analyzed two outbursts, which allowed us to put tight constraints on the black hole mass of 4 ± 0.5M ⊙ and on the accretion rate of yr−1.

We present a photometric and spectroscopic study of the visual binary V342 Andromedae. Visual components of the system have angular separations of 3 arcseconds. We obtained two spectroscopic data sets. An examination of both the A and B component spectra reveals that the B component is a spectroscopic binary with an eccentric orbit. The orbital period, taken from the Hipparcos Catalog, agrees with the orbital period of the B component measured spectroscopically. We also collected a new set of photometric measurements. The argument of periastron is close to 270 • and the orbit eccentricity is not seen in our photometric data. About five years after the first spectroscopic observations, a new set of spectroscopic data was obtained. We analysed the apsidal motion, but we did not find any significant changes in the orbital orientation. A Wilson-Devinney model was calculated based on the photometric and the radial velocity curves. The result shows two very similar stars with masses M 1 = 1.27 ± 0.01 M , M 2 = 1.28 ± 0.01 M , respectively. The radii are R 1 = 1.21 ± 0.01 R , R 2 = 1.25 ± 0.01 R , respectively. Radial velocity measurements of component A, the most luminous star in the system, reveal no significant periodic variations. We calculated the time of the eclipsing binary orbit's circularization, which is about two orders of magnitude shorter than the estimated age of the system. The discrepancies in the age estimation can be explained by the Kozai effect induced by the visual component A. The atmospheric parameters and the chemical abundances for the eclipsing pair, as well as the LSD profiles for both visual components, were calculated from two high-resolution, well-exposed spectra obtained on the 2-m class telescope.