Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2000-10-04
Astrophys.Space Sci. 276 (2001) 39-40
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
18 pages, including 2 figures; to appear in ApJ Letters
Scientific paper
10.1086/317892
We present an analysis of constraints on the companion mass for the Galactic microquasar GRS 1915+105. Using the known inclination angle and stability of the jet axis, we can rule out massive ($M_s \ga 3 M_{\sun}$) companions with orbital axes not aligned with the jet axis. For an aligned orbital axis, we constrain the ratio of the stellar radius to the binary semi-major axis to be $R_s/a <0.342$, based on the lack of X-ray eclipses. We then show that these constraints together with the X-ray luminosity, approximate black hole mass, and observations of the X-ray absorbing column density towards GRS 1915+105 rule out accretion via stellar wind from a massive companion, implying that accretion occurs via Roche-lobe overflow. In that case, the constraint on $R_s/a$ rules out any companion with $M_s > 19.4 M_{\sun}$ for a black hole mass of $M_{BH} \simeq 30 M_{\sun}$. The lack of significant X-ray reprocessing in the infrared from GRS 1915+105 also provides constraints on the mass and temperature range of a Roche-lobe-filling mass donor.
Bandyopadhyay Reba M.
Eikenberry Stephen Scott
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