On the nature of the soft γ-ray emission in the hard state of the black hole transient GRS 1716−249

The black hole transient GRS 1716−249 was monitored from the radio to the γ -ray band during its 2016-2017 outburst. This paper focuses on the spectral energy distribution (SED) obtained in 2017 February-March, when GRS 1716−249 was in a bright hard spectral state. The soft γ -ray data collected wit...

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Main Authors: Bassi, T., Malzac, J., Del Santo, M., Jourdain, E., Roques, J.P., D'Aì, A., Miller-Jones, James, Belmont, R., Motta, S.E., Segreto, A., Testa, V., Casella, P.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: OXFORD UNIV PRESS 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91531
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author Bassi, T.
Malzac, J.
Del Santo, M.
Jourdain, E.
Roques, J.P.
D'Aì, A.
Miller-Jones, James
Belmont, R.
Motta, S.E.
Segreto, A.
Testa, V.
Casella, P.
author_facet Bassi, T.
Malzac, J.
Del Santo, M.
Jourdain, E.
Roques, J.P.
D'Aì, A.
Miller-Jones, James
Belmont, R.
Motta, S.E.
Segreto, A.
Testa, V.
Casella, P.
author_sort Bassi, T.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The black hole transient GRS 1716−249 was monitored from the radio to the γ -ray band during its 2016-2017 outburst. This paper focuses on the spectral energy distribution (SED) obtained in 2017 February-March, when GRS 1716−249 was in a bright hard spectral state. The soft γ -ray data collected with the INTEGRAL/SPI telescope show the presence of a spectral component that is in excess of the thermal Comptonization emission. This component is usually interpreted as inverse Compton emission from a tiny fraction of non-thermal electrons in the X-ray corona. We find that hybrid thermal/non-thermal Comptonization models provide a good fit to the X-/γ -ray spectrum of GRS 1716−249. The best-fitting parameters are typical of the bright hard state spectra observed in other black hole X-ray binaries. Moreover, the magnetized hybrid Comptonization model BELM provides an upper limit on the intensity of the coronal magnetic field of about 106 G. Alternatively, this soft γ -ray emission could originate from synchrotron emission in the radio jet. In order to test this hypothesis, we fit the SED with the irradiated disc plus Comptonization model combined with the jet internal shock emission model ISHEM. We found that a jet with an electron distribution of p = 2.1 can reproduce the soft γ -ray emission of GRS 1716−249. However, if we introduce the expected cooling break around 10 keV, the jet model can no longer explain the observed soft γ -ray emission, unless the index of the electron energy distribution is significantly harder (p < 2).
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
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publishDate 2020
publisher OXFORD UNIV PRESS
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-915312023-05-11T02:59:47Z On the nature of the soft γ-ray emission in the hard state of the black hole transient GRS 1716−249 Bassi, T. Malzac, J. Del Santo, M. Jourdain, E. Roques, J.P. D'Aì, A. Miller-Jones, James Belmont, R. Motta, S.E. Segreto, A. Testa, V. Casella, P. Science & Technology Physical Sciences Astronomy & Astrophysics accretion, accretion discs black hole physics ISM: jets and outflows gammarays: general X-rays: binaries SPECTRAL ENERGY-DISTRIBUTION X-RAY COMPACT JET INTERNAL SHOCKS CYGNUS X-1 ACCRETION RADIO VARIABILITY SYNCHROTRON RADIATION The black hole transient GRS 1716−249 was monitored from the radio to the γ -ray band during its 2016-2017 outburst. This paper focuses on the spectral energy distribution (SED) obtained in 2017 February-March, when GRS 1716−249 was in a bright hard spectral state. The soft γ -ray data collected with the INTEGRAL/SPI telescope show the presence of a spectral component that is in excess of the thermal Comptonization emission. This component is usually interpreted as inverse Compton emission from a tiny fraction of non-thermal electrons in the X-ray corona. We find that hybrid thermal/non-thermal Comptonization models provide a good fit to the X-/γ -ray spectrum of GRS 1716−249. The best-fitting parameters are typical of the bright hard state spectra observed in other black hole X-ray binaries. Moreover, the magnetized hybrid Comptonization model BELM provides an upper limit on the intensity of the coronal magnetic field of about 106 G. Alternatively, this soft γ -ray emission could originate from synchrotron emission in the radio jet. In order to test this hypothesis, we fit the SED with the irradiated disc plus Comptonization model combined with the jet internal shock emission model ISHEM. We found that a jet with an electron distribution of p = 2.1 can reproduce the soft γ -ray emission of GRS 1716−249. However, if we introduce the expected cooling break around 10 keV, the jet model can no longer explain the observed soft γ -ray emission, unless the index of the electron energy distribution is significantly harder (p < 2). 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91531 10.1093/mnras/staa739 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 OXFORD UNIV PRESS fulltext
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
accretion, accretion discs
black hole physics
ISM: jets and outflows
gammarays: general
X-rays: binaries
SPECTRAL ENERGY-DISTRIBUTION
X-RAY
COMPACT JET
INTERNAL SHOCKS
CYGNUS X-1
ACCRETION
RADIO
VARIABILITY
SYNCHROTRON
RADIATION
Bassi, T.
Malzac, J.
Del Santo, M.
Jourdain, E.
Roques, J.P.
D'Aì, A.
Miller-Jones, James
Belmont, R.
Motta, S.E.
Segreto, A.
Testa, V.
Casella, P.
On the nature of the soft γ-ray emission in the hard state of the black hole transient GRS 1716−249
title On the nature of the soft γ-ray emission in the hard state of the black hole transient GRS 1716−249
title_full On the nature of the soft γ-ray emission in the hard state of the black hole transient GRS 1716−249
title_fullStr On the nature of the soft γ-ray emission in the hard state of the black hole transient GRS 1716−249
title_full_unstemmed On the nature of the soft γ-ray emission in the hard state of the black hole transient GRS 1716−249
title_short On the nature of the soft γ-ray emission in the hard state of the black hole transient GRS 1716−249
title_sort on the nature of the soft γ-ray emission in the hard state of the black hole transient grs 1716−249
topic Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
accretion, accretion discs
black hole physics
ISM: jets and outflows
gammarays: general
X-rays: binaries
SPECTRAL ENERGY-DISTRIBUTION
X-RAY
COMPACT JET
INTERNAL SHOCKS
CYGNUS X-1
ACCRETION
RADIO
VARIABILITY
SYNCHROTRON
RADIATION
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91531