Spitzer Observations of Black Hole Low-mass X-ray Binaries: Assessing the Non-stellar Infrared Component
Abstract
We have combined ground-based optical and near-infrared data with Spitzer Space Telescope mid-infrared data for five black hole (BH) soft X-ray transients (SXTs) in order to determine the levels of near- and mid-infrared emission from sources other than the secondary star. Mid-infrared emission from an accretion disk, circumbinary dust, and/or a jet could act as sources of near-infrared contamination, thereby diluting ellipsoidal variations of the secondary star and affecting determined BH mass estimates. Based on optical to mid-infrared spectral energy distribution modeling of the five SXTs along with the prototype, V616 Mon, we detected mid-infrared excesses in half of the systems, and suggest that the excesses detected from these systems arise from non-thermal synchrotron jets rather than circumbinary dust disks.
Additional Information
© 2010 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2009 July 17; accepted 2010 May 15; published 2010 June 24. Facilities: Spitzer (IRAC), Hale Telescope (WIRC), ARC (SPIcam), Blanco (OSIRIS).Attached Files
Published - Gelino2010p11054Astrophys_J.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 19481
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20100817-145349741
- Created
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2010-08-17Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-08Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)