Physics
Scientific paper
Aug 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009pasj...61..645f&link_type=abstract
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, Vol.61, No.4, pp.645--657
Physics
Accretion Disks, Black Hole Physics, Galaxies: Jets, Radiative Transfer, Relativity
Scientific paper
We examine the observational appearance of optically thick luminous gaseous objects that move or rotate at a relativistic speed. In relativistic objects traveling at about the speed of light, Doppler and aberration effects influence their observational appearance. In gaseous objects with a hotter interior, furthermore, there exists a usual limb-darkening effect, which has a direction-dependency, and is therefore affected by the relativistic aberration. In addition, the emitted radiation suffers from a relativistic Doppler boost. Hence, the apparent photosphere of relativistic gaseous objects depends on their velocity and direction as well as the temperature distribution. We have derived the optical depth of the apparent photosphere of such relativistic movers under the plane-parallel approximation, and calculated several typical cases. When the velocity is almost parallel to the line of sight, the relativistic effect on the optical depth becomes important; otherwise, the limb-darkening effect dominates. In the case of a rotating sphere, except for some small fraction in the equatorial direction, the optical depth of the apparent photosphere becomes small due to the relativistic aberration. In the case of a geometrically thin disk, the optical depth becomes large in the left approaching part, whereas it becomes small in the right receding part. In the case of a geometrically thick disk, the projection effect becomes important, and the optical depth is large at the far side, while it is small at the near side. We have also examined light curves of luminous orbiters around a black hole and luminosities and spectra of accretion disks under special relativity, as applications. The light curve of the relativistic orbiter does deviate from a sinusoidal pattern due to the transverse Doppler effect. The pole-on luminosity of accretion disks is enhanced by the limb-dakening effect and reduced by the relativistic one, while the luminosity observed from the inclined direction is reduced by the limb-darkening effect.
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