Re-estimating the Spin Parameter of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1 is a well-studied persistent black hole X-ray binary. Recently, the three parameters needed to estimate the black hole spin of this system, namely the black hole mass M, the orbital inclination i, and the source distance D, have been updated. In this work we redetermine the spin parameter...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91526 |
| _version_ | 1848765538580299776 |
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| author | Zhao, X. Gou, L. Dong, Y. Zheng, X. Steiner, J.F. Miller-Jones, James Bahramian, Arash Orosz, J.A. Feng, Y. |
| author_facet | Zhao, X. Gou, L. Dong, Y. Zheng, X. Steiner, J.F. Miller-Jones, James Bahramian, Arash Orosz, J.A. Feng, Y. |
| author_sort | Zhao, X. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Cygnus X-1 is a well-studied persistent black hole X-ray binary. Recently, the three parameters needed to estimate the black hole spin of this system, namely the black hole mass M, the orbital inclination i, and the source distance D, have been updated. In this work we redetermine the spin parameter using the continuum-fitting technique for those updated parameter values. Based on the assumption that the spin axis of the black hole is aligned with the orbital plane, we fit the thermal disk component to a fully relativistic thin accretion disk model. The error in the spin estimate arising from the combined observational uncertainties is obtained via Monte Carlo simulations. We demonstrate that, without considering the counteracting torque effect, the new spin parameter is constrained to be a ∗ > 0.9985 (3σ), which confirms that the spin of the black hole in Cygnus X-1 is extreme. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:36:51Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-91526 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:36:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | IOP PUBLISHING LTD |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-915262023-05-04T09:27:11Z Re-estimating the Spin Parameter of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1 Zhao, X. Gou, L. Dong, Y. Zheng, X. Steiner, J.F. Miller-Jones, James Bahramian, Arash Orosz, J.A. Feng, Y. Science & Technology Physical Sciences Astronomy & Astrophysics X-ray binary stars Black hole physics High energy astrophysics astro-ph.HE astro-ph.HE Cygnus X-1 is a well-studied persistent black hole X-ray binary. Recently, the three parameters needed to estimate the black hole spin of this system, namely the black hole mass M, the orbital inclination i, and the source distance D, have been updated. In this work we redetermine the spin parameter using the continuum-fitting technique for those updated parameter values. Based on the assumption that the spin axis of the black hole is aligned with the orbital plane, we fit the thermal disk component to a fully relativistic thin accretion disk model. The error in the spin estimate arising from the combined observational uncertainties is obtained via Monte Carlo simulations. We demonstrate that, without considering the counteracting torque effect, the new spin parameter is constrained to be a ∗ > 0.9985 (3σ), which confirms that the spin of the black hole in Cygnus X-1 is extreme. 2021 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91526 10.3847/1538-4357/abbcd6 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 IOP PUBLISHING LTD fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Astronomy & Astrophysics X-ray binary stars Black hole physics High energy astrophysics astro-ph.HE astro-ph.HE Zhao, X. Gou, L. Dong, Y. Zheng, X. Steiner, J.F. Miller-Jones, James Bahramian, Arash Orosz, J.A. Feng, Y. Re-estimating the Spin Parameter of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1 |
| title | Re-estimating the Spin Parameter of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1 |
| title_full | Re-estimating the Spin Parameter of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1 |
| title_fullStr | Re-estimating the Spin Parameter of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Re-estimating the Spin Parameter of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1 |
| title_short | Re-estimating the Spin Parameter of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1 |
| title_sort | re-estimating the spin parameter of the black hole in cygnus x-1 |
| topic | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Astronomy & Astrophysics X-ray binary stars Black hole physics High energy astrophysics astro-ph.HE astro-ph.HE |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91526 |