Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Scientific paper
2010-10-05
Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.:,2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
19 pages, 15 figures, submitted to MNRAS, updated abstract
Scientific paper
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19089.x
We measure the spin of XTE J1550-564 in two ways: by modelling the thermal continuum spectrum of the accretion disc, and independently by modeling the broad red wing of the reflection fluorescence Fe-K line. We find that the spin measurements conducted independently using both leading methods are in agreement with one another. For the continuum-fitting analysis, we use a data sample consisting of several dozen RXTE spectra, and for the Fe-K analysis, we use a pair of ASCA spectra from a single epoch. Our spin estimate for the black hole primary using the continuum-fitting method is -0.11 < a* < 0.71 (90 per cent confidence), with a most likely spin of a* = 0.34. In obtaining this result, we have thoroughly explored the dependence of the spin value on a wide range of model-dependent systematic errors and observational errors; our precision is limited by uncertainties in the distance and orbital inclination of the system. For the Fe-line method, our estimate of spin is a* = 0.55(+0.15,-0.22). Combining these results, we conclude that the spin of this black hole is moderate, a* = 0.49(+0.13,-0.20), which suggests that the jet of this microquasar is powered largely by its accretion disc rather than by the spin energy of the black hole.
Fabian Andrew C.
Gou Lijun
McClintock Jeffrey E.
Narayan Ramesh
Orosz Jerome A.
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