Multiwavelength Observations Of Swift J1753.5-0127

Date

2014-01

Authors

Froning, Cynthia S.
Maccarone, Thomas J.
France, Kevin
Winter, Lisa
Robinson, Edward L.
Hynes, Robert I.
Lewis, Fraser

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Abstract

We present contemporaneous X-ray, ultraviolet (UV), optical, and near-infrared observations of the black hole binary system Swift J1753.5-0127 acquired in 2012 October. The UV observations, obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope, are the first UV spectra of this system. The dereddened UV spectrum is characterized by a smooth, blue continuum and broad emission lines of C IV and He II. The system was stable in the UV to <10% during our observations. We estimated the interstellar reddening by fitting the 2175 angstrom absorption feature and fit the interstellar absorption profile of Ly alpha to directly measure the neutral hydrogen column density along the line of sight. By comparing the UV continuum flux to steady-Statethin accretion disk models, we determined upper limits on the distance to the system as a function of black hole mass. The continuum is well fit with disk models dominated by viscous heating rather than irradiation. The broadband spectral energy distribution shows the system has declined at all wavelengths since previous broadband observations in 2005 and 2007. If we assume that the UV emission is dominated by the accretion disk, the inner radius of the disk must be truncated at radii above the innermost stable circular orbit to be consistent with the X-ray flux, requiring significant mass loss from outflows and/or energy loss via advection into the black hole to maintain energy balance.

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Citation

Froning, Cynthia S., Thomas J. Maccarone, Kevin France, Lisa Winter, Edward L. Robinson, Robert I. Hynes, and Fraser Lewis. "Multiwavelength Observations of Swift J1753. 5ヨ0127." The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 780, No. 1 (Jan., 2014): 48.