Evidence for a Black Hole in the X-ray Binary Nova MUSCAE 1991

Details Evidence for a Black Hole in the X-ray Binary Nova MUSCAE 1991 Evidence for a Black Hole in the X-ray Binary Nova MUSCAE 1991

Dec 1992

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992aas...181.7301r&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, 181st AAS Meeting, #73.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 24, p.1236

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Optical photometry and spectroscopy of X-ray Nova Muscae 1991 in quiescence reveal an orbital period of 10.398 +/- 0.014 hours and an absorption-line velocity curve consistent with a sinusoidal modulation at a half-amplitude of 409 +/- 18 km/s. The spectral type of the secondary star is in the range K0V to K4V. The value of the mass function, 3.1 +/- 0.4 M_&sun;, is a conservative lower limit on the mass of the compact primary and suggests that the primary is a black hole. Further considerations of the binary inclination angle and the mass of the secondary strengthen the black hole model. The folded light curves in the I band and B+V band resemble ellipsoidal variations, with an additional brightening near one of the maxima in the B+V band. The orbital period is 1.4% shorter than the photometric period observed during outburst, as expected if the outburst modulations are analogs of "superhumps" in dwarf novae. In quiescence, the optical properties of X-ray binary Nova Muscae 1991 bear a striking resemblance to the black-hole binary A0620-00 (Nova Mon 1917, 1975), which extends the basis of similarity that was demonstrated during outburst at X-ray and optical wavelengths.

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