Infrared Observations of Nova Muscae 1991: Black Hole Mass Determination from Ellipsoidal Variations

Details Infrared Observations of Nova Muscae 1991: Black Hole Mass Determination from Ellipsoidal Variations Infrared Observations of Nova Muscae 1991: Black Hole Mass Determination from Ellipsoidal Variations

2001-05-03

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0105064v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

20 pages, 4 figures, Accepted to AJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/321159

We have obtained infrared photometry for the soft x-ray transient GU Mus. We present J and K_s band light curves modeled with WD98, the newest version of the Wilson-Devinney light curve modeling code. Using detailed models for the expected ellipsoidal variations due to the non-spherical secondary star, we show that the most likely value for the orbital inclination is 54 +/-1.5 deg. This inclination angle is consistent with those previously published, but has a much smaller error. This inclination implies a primary black hole mass of 6.95 +/-0.6 M_sun. While we do not see any evidence for contamination of our infrared light curves from other sources in the system, a conservative model with a contamination level of 15% increases the uncertainty in the inclination angle to 54 +4/-1.5 deg.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Infrared Observations of Nova Muscae 1991: Black Hole Mass Determination from Ellipsoidal Variations does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Infrared Observations of Nova Muscae 1991: Black Hole Mass Determination from Ellipsoidal Variations, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Infrared Observations of Nova Muscae 1991: Black Hole Mass Determination from Ellipsoidal Variations will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-249182