The 2005 outburst of GRO J1655-40: spectral evolution of the rise, as observed by Swift

Details The 2005 outburst of GRO J1655-40: spectral evolution of the rise, as observed by Swift The 2005 outburst of GRO J1655-40: spectral evolution of the rise, as observed by Swift

2005-10-27

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0510775v1

Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.365:1203-1214,2006

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Scientific paper

10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09791.x

We present Swift observations of the black hole X-ray transient, GRO J1655-40, during the recent outburst. With its multiwavelength capabilities and flexible scheduling, Swift is extremely well-suited for monitoring the spectral evolution of such an event. GRO J1655-40 was observed on 20 occasions and data were obtained by all instruments for the majority of epochs. X-ray spectroscopy revealed spectral shapes consistent with the ``canonical'' low/hard, high/soft and very high states at various epochs. The soft X-ray source (0.3-10 keV) rose from quiescence and entered the low/hard state, when an iron emission line was detected. The soft X-ray source then softened and decayed, before beginning a slow rebrightening and then spending $\sim 3$ weeks in the very high state. The hard X-rays (14-150 keV) behaved similarly but their peaks preceded those of the soft X-rays by up to a few days; in addition, the average hard X-ray flux remained approximately constant during the slow soft X-ray rebrightening, increasing suddenly as the source entered the very high state. These observations indicate (and confirm previous suggestions) that the low/hard state is key to improving our understanding of the outburst trigger and mechanism. The optical/ultraviolet lightcurve behaved very differently from that of the X-rays; this might suggest that the soft X-ray lightcurve is actually a composite of the two known spectral components, one gradually increasing with the optical/ultraviolet emission (accretion disc) and the other following the behaviour of the hard X-rays (jet and/or corona).

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

The 2005 outburst of GRO J1655-40: spectral evolution of the rise, as observed by Swift does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The 2005 outburst of GRO J1655-40: spectral evolution of the rise, as observed by Swift, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The 2005 outburst of GRO J1655-40: spectral evolution of the rise, as observed by Swift will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-322241