The Mass of the Black Hole in the X-Ray Binary Nova Muscae 1991

Abstract

The optical counterpart of the black-hole soft X-ray transient Nova Muscae 1991 has brightened by ∆V ≈ 0.8 mag since its return to quiescence 23 years ago. We present the first clear evidence that the brightening of soft X-ray transients in quiescence occurs at a nearly linear rate. This discovery, and our precise determination of the disk component of emission obtained using our simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic data, have allowed us to identify and accurately model archival ellipsoidal light curves of the highest quality. The simultaneity, and the strong constraint it provides on the component of disk emission, is a key element of our work. Based on our analysis of the light curves, and our earlier measurements of the mass function and mass ratio, we have obtained for Nova Muscae 1991 the first accurate estimates of its systemic inclination i = 43.2 −0.65 kpc. We discuss the implications of our work for future dynamical studies of black-hole soft X-ray transients.

Optical Precursors to Black Hole X-Ray Binary Outbursts: An Evolving Synchrotron Jet Spectrum in Swift J1357.2–0933

“…Dubus, Hameury & Lasota 2001;Lasota 2001;Hameury et al 2017) predicts that between outbursts, the temperature and surface density of the accretion disk increase as matter builds up in the disk, leading to higher optical fluxes. This phenomenon has only recently been seen in LMXBs with long-term (years) optical monitoring in quiescence (Yang et al 2012;Bernardini et al 2016;Koljonen et al 2016;Wu et al 2016).…”

“…In other LMXBs, optical flickering, flares and/or variability are seen from the accretion flow (e.g. Yang et al 2012;Koljonen et al 2016;Wu et al 2016) and some exhibit a combination of the above contributions (e.g. Zurita, Casares & Shahbaz 2003;Shahbaz et al 2005;Cantrell et al 2010;MacDonald et al 2014;Bernardini et al 2016).…”

Stronger Reflection From Black Hole Accretion Disks in Soft X-Ray States

“…Roughly half of the known stellar BHs have a dynamically determined mass. The measured masses range from~5 to  M 20 (Özel et al 2010;Reid et al 2014;Laycock et al 2015;Wu et al 2016). Meanwhile, estimates of spin have been obtained for many of them during the past decade, principally by modeling either the thermal continuum emission of the accretion disk (e.g., Zhang et al 1997;McClintock et al 2014) or the relativistically broadened reflection spectrum (e.g., Fabian et al 1989;Reynolds 2014).…”

Searching for stellar-mass black holes in the Milky Way

“…图1给出了已探测的银河系中恒 星级黑洞的分布情况 [10] , 其中圆圈代表已证认的黑洞, 洞X射线双星的缩略图 [8] . 表1给出了银河系中已证认 的20个黑洞X射线双星的名称、轨道周期和黑洞质 量 [4,10,[12][13][14] .…”

“…数据主要 取自参考文献[10]. 此外, GRS 1124-684的数据取自参考文 献[12,13], MAXI J1820+070的数据取自参考文献[14], Cyg X-1的数据取自参考文献[4] Information of 20 confirmed black hole X-ray binaries. The data are mainly taken from ref.[10].…”