The first low-mass black hole x-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster
The observed relation between the X-ray and radio properties of low-luminosity accreting black holes (BHs) has enabled the identification of multiple candidate black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) in globular clusters (GCs). Here, we report an identification of the radio source VLA J213002.08+120904 (a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Institute of Physics Publishing
2016
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30473 |
| _version_ | 1848753099066310656 |
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| author | Tetarenko, B. Bahramian, A. Arnason, R. Miller-Jones, James Repetto, S. Heinke, C. MacCarone, T. Chomiuk, L. Sivakoff, G. Strader, J. Kirsten, Franz Vlemmings, W. |
| author_facet | Tetarenko, B. Bahramian, A. Arnason, R. Miller-Jones, James Repetto, S. Heinke, C. MacCarone, T. Chomiuk, L. Sivakoff, G. Strader, J. Kirsten, Franz Vlemmings, W. |
| author_sort | Tetarenko, B. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The observed relation between the X-ray and radio properties of low-luminosity accreting black holes (BHs) has enabled the identification of multiple candidate black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) in globular clusters (GCs). Here, we report an identification of the radio source VLA J213002.08+120904 (aka M15 S2), recently reported in Kirsten et al., as a BHXB candidate. They showed that the parallax of this flat-spectrum variable radio source indicates a - + 2.2 0.30.5 kpc distance, which identifies it as lying in the foreground of the GC M15. We determine the radio characteristics of this source and place a deep limit on the X-ray luminosity of ~4 × 1029 erg s.1. Furthermore, we astrometrically identify a faint red stellar counterpart in archival Hubble images with colors consistent with a foreground star; at 2.2 kpc, its inferred mass is 0.1-0.2Me. We rule out that this object is a pulsar, neutron star X-ray binary, cataclysmic variable, or planetary nebula, concluding that VLA J213002.08+120904 is the first accreting BHXB candidate discovered in quiescence outside of a GC. Given the relatively small area over which parallax studies of radio sources have been performed, this discovery suggests a much larger population of quiescent BHXBs in our Galaxy, 2.6 ± 104-1.7 × 108 BHXBs at 3× confidence, than has been previously estimated (~102-104) through population synthesis. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:19:07Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-30473 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:19:07Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Institute of Physics Publishing |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-304732022-11-23T07:47:17Z The first low-mass black hole x-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster Tetarenko, B. Bahramian, A. Arnason, R. Miller-Jones, James Repetto, S. Heinke, C. MacCarone, T. Chomiuk, L. Sivakoff, G. Strader, J. Kirsten, Franz Vlemmings, W. The observed relation between the X-ray and radio properties of low-luminosity accreting black holes (BHs) has enabled the identification of multiple candidate black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) in globular clusters (GCs). Here, we report an identification of the radio source VLA J213002.08+120904 (aka M15 S2), recently reported in Kirsten et al., as a BHXB candidate. They showed that the parallax of this flat-spectrum variable radio source indicates a - + 2.2 0.30.5 kpc distance, which identifies it as lying in the foreground of the GC M15. We determine the radio characteristics of this source and place a deep limit on the X-ray luminosity of ~4 × 1029 erg s.1. Furthermore, we astrometrically identify a faint red stellar counterpart in archival Hubble images with colors consistent with a foreground star; at 2.2 kpc, its inferred mass is 0.1-0.2Me. We rule out that this object is a pulsar, neutron star X-ray binary, cataclysmic variable, or planetary nebula, concluding that VLA J213002.08+120904 is the first accreting BHXB candidate discovered in quiescence outside of a GC. Given the relatively small area over which parallax studies of radio sources have been performed, this discovery suggests a much larger population of quiescent BHXBs in our Galaxy, 2.6 ± 104-1.7 × 108 BHXBs at 3× confidence, than has been previously estimated (~102-104) through population synthesis. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30473 10.3847/0004-637X/825/1/10 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 Institute of Physics Publishing fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Tetarenko, B. Bahramian, A. Arnason, R. Miller-Jones, James Repetto, S. Heinke, C. MacCarone, T. Chomiuk, L. Sivakoff, G. Strader, J. Kirsten, Franz Vlemmings, W. The first low-mass black hole x-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster |
| title | The first low-mass black hole x-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster |
| title_full | The first low-mass black hole x-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster |
| title_fullStr | The first low-mass black hole x-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster |
| title_full_unstemmed | The first low-mass black hole x-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster |
| title_short | The first low-mass black hole x-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster |
| title_sort | first low-mass black hole x-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30473 |