Inverse Compton spectra and the spectrum of Cygnus X-1

Details Inverse Compton spectra and the spectrum of Cygnus X-1 Inverse Compton spectra and the spectrum of Cygnus X-1

Jul 1976

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1976natur.262..196e&link_type=abstract

Nature, vol. 262, July 15, 1976, p. 196, 197.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

19

Black Holes (Astronomy), Compton Effect, X Ray Sources, X Ray Spectra, Black Body Radiation, Electron Energy, Energy Spectra, Photons, Power Spectra

Scientific paper

The variable power-law spectrum found from X-ray observations of the black hole candidate Cyg X-1 is interpreted as the result of inverse Compton scattering by nonrelativistic electrons at a temperature of about one billion K. It is suggested that the spectrum of Cyg X-1 is never flatter than a spectral index of about 0.5 in the low state because thermal cyclotron radiation is always present as a minimal soft photon source with an energy about equal to the energy of the observed spectrum where it intersects the Rayleigh-Jeans portion of a black body spectrum (about 0.01 keV), and with a luminosity of about 10 to the 34th erg/sec. In the high state the spectral index is about equal to 4, and the energy at which the observed spectrum intersects the Rayleigh-Jeans portion of a black body spectrum is about 0.5 keV for an electron temperature of 1 billion K. A candidate for the soft photon source in the high state is a cool, optically thick accretion disk within the optically thin scattering cloud.

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