TY - JOUR
T1 - Time-resolved UV spectroscopy of the accretion disk and wind in a super-Eddington black-hole X-ray transient
AU - Castro Segura, Noel
AU - Knigge, Christian
AU - Long, Knox S.
AU - Altamirano, Diego
AU - Armas Padilla, Montserrat
AU - Casares, Jorges
AU - Charles, Philip A.
AU - Degenaar, Nathalie
AU - Fender, Rob
AU - Gandhi, Poshak
AU - Hernandez Santisteban, Juan Venancio
AU - Higginbottom, Nick
AU - Jimenez-Ibarra, Felipe
AU - Matthews, James
AU - Mendez, Mariano
AU - Middleton, Matthew
AU - Munoz Darias, Teo
AU - Ozbey Arabaci, Mehtap
AU - Pahari, Mayukh
AU - Paice, John
AU - Perez-Torres, Miguel
AU - Rhodes, Lauren
AU - Russell, Tom
AU - Scaringi, Simone
AU - Vasilopoulos, Georgios
AU - Vicentelli, Federico
AU - Williams, David Richard Alexander
AU - van den Eijnden, Jakob
PY - 2019/7/1
Y1 - 2019/7/1
N2 - In October 2018, Swift announced the discovery of a new Galactic X-ray
transient, Swift J1858. Just before Sun-angle constraints rendered the
system unobservable, follow-up observations revealed extreme flaring
activity, of a kind that has so far only been seen in the famous black
hole X-ray binary (BHXRB) V404 Cyg during its 2015 eruption and in V4641
Sgr. The peculiar behaviour of these sources is thought to be a
consequence of super-Eddington accretion regime.
After several months of unusual strong and rapid flaring in its
high-luminosity state, Swift J1858 is currently exhibiting impressive
optical P-Cygni profiles, suggesting the pres- ence of a dense and cool
wind from the outer accretion disk. The dominant spectroscopic
signatures of such winds are actually expected to lie in the
far-ultraviolet region, but they are usually inaccessible in black-hole
X-ray binaries, due to interstellar reddening. Given its low extinction,
Swift J1858 provides us with a rare chance to study the accretion disk
wind in the crucial ultraviolet band - an opportunity that was missed in
the other two systems.
Building on an ongoing multi-wavelength campaign (X-rays: NICER;
optical: GTC; radio: VLA & AMI), we therefore request far- and
near-UV time-resolved spectroscopic observations of this system with
HST/STIS+COS in order to (a) study its extreme accretion disk wind; (b)
test proposed wind driving mechanisms; (c) characterize its UV
variability properties and determine the origin of these variations; (d)
construct the broad-band SED of the outer accretion disk that dominates
the UV flux; and (e) determine the extinction towards the system in
order to constrain the mass accretion rate.
AB - In October 2018, Swift announced the discovery of a new Galactic X-ray
transient, Swift J1858. Just before Sun-angle constraints rendered the
system unobservable, follow-up observations revealed extreme flaring
activity, of a kind that has so far only been seen in the famous black
hole X-ray binary (BHXRB) V404 Cyg during its 2015 eruption and in V4641
Sgr. The peculiar behaviour of these sources is thought to be a
consequence of super-Eddington accretion regime.
After several months of unusual strong and rapid flaring in its
high-luminosity state, Swift J1858 is currently exhibiting impressive
optical P-Cygni profiles, suggesting the pres- ence of a dense and cool
wind from the outer accretion disk. The dominant spectroscopic
signatures of such winds are actually expected to lie in the
far-ultraviolet region, but they are usually inaccessible in black-hole
X-ray binaries, due to interstellar reddening. Given its low extinction,
Swift J1858 provides us with a rare chance to study the accretion disk
wind in the crucial ultraviolet band - an opportunity that was missed in
the other two systems.
Building on an ongoing multi-wavelength campaign (X-rays: NICER;
optical: GTC; radio: VLA & AMI), we therefore request far- and
near-UV time-resolved spectroscopic observations of this system with
HST/STIS+COS in order to (a) study its extreme accretion disk wind; (b)
test proposed wind driving mechanisms; (c) characterize its UV
variability properties and determine the origin of these variations; (d)
construct the broad-band SED of the outer accretion disk that dominates
the UV flux; and (e) determine the extinction towards the system in
order to constrain the mass accretion rate.
M3 - Article
SP - 15984
JO - HST Proposal. Cycle 26
JF - HST Proposal. Cycle 26
ER -