Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Mar 1982
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1982natur.296..226g&link_type=abstract
Nature, vol. 296, Mar. 18, 1982, p. 226-228. Research supported by the Radcliffe Trust and Guernsey States Education Council.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
22
Binary Stars, Black Holes (Astronomy), Compton Effect, Gas Temperature, X Ray Sources, X Ray Spectra, Feedback, Photons, Power Spectra, Spectrum Analysis, Stellar Mass Accretion
Scientific paper
The spectrum of the X-ray source Cygnus X-1 appears to exhibit both a 'low state' and a 'high state', spending most of its time in the former. Most of the interpretation of the spectrum has centered on the Comptonization of soft photons by a hot gas in an accretion disk surrounding a black hole. It has been assumed that the hot gas is held at a fixed temperature, despite the obvious high degree of variability observed in the source on time scales ranging from milliseconds to months. The effect of relaxing this assumption of constant temperature is considered because a Compton-cooled gas, in which the gas temperature drops in response to the Comptonization of soft photons, can readily produce a two-state time-averaged spectrum from variations in the soft flux. It is speculated that a feedback mechanism exists that may effectively lock the source in either of two states.
Fabian Andrea C.
Guilbert Paul W.
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