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The black hole X-ray transient Swift J1357.2-0933 as seen with Swift and NuSTAR during its 2017 outburst

The black hole X-ray transient Swift J1357.2-0933 as seen with Swift and NuSTAR during its 2017 outburst
The black hole X-ray transient Swift J1357.2-0933 as seen with Swift and NuSTAR during its 2017 outburst

We report on observations of black hole Swift J1357.2-0933, a member of the modest population of very faint X-ray transients. This source has previously shown intense dips in the optical light curve, a phenomena that has been linked to the existence of a 'unique toroidal structure' in the inner region of the disc, seen at a high inclination. Our observations, carried out by the Neil Gehrels Swift and NuSTAR X-ray observatories, do not show the presence of intense dips in the optical light curves. We find that the X-ray light curves do not show any features that would straightforwardly support an edge-on configuration or high inclination configuration of the orbit. This is similar to what was seen in the X-ray observations of the source during its 2011 outburst. Moreover, the broad-band spectra were well described with an absorbed power-law model without any signatures of cut-off at energies above 10 keV, or any reflection from the disc or the putative torus. Thus, the X-ray data do not support the unique 'obscuring torus' scenario proposed for J1357. We also performed a multiwavelength study using the data of X-ray telescope and Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope aboard Swift, taken during the ∼4.5 months duration of the 2017 outburst. This is consistent with what was previously inferred for this source. We found a correlation between the simultaneous X-ray and ultraviolet/optical data and our study suggests that most of the reprocessed flux must be coming out in the ultraviolet.

Accretion, accretion discs, Black hole physics, Stars: black holes, X-rays: binaries, X-rays: individual: Swift J1357.2-0933
1365-2966
3064-3075
Beri, Aru
69ed346a-f02a-4243-83f9-ad5ab4c4008c
Tetarenko, B. E.
b62ce163-46fb-4989-b805-b6b2b5a78121
Bahramian, A.
1f016b89-98b9-4fa9-8df0-9390fbb5eeda
Altamirano, Diego
d5ccdb09-0b71-4303-9538-05b467be075b
Gandhi, Poshak
5bc3b5af-42b0-4dd8-8f1f-f74048d4d4a9
Sivakoff, G. R.
78946fc0-c772-46ea-8c7b-85e99b6e8844
Degenaar, N.
54149051-d74e-4e43-a7cd-501ec4023511
Middleton, M. J.
f91b89d9-fd2e-42ec-aa99-1249f08a52ad
Wijnands, R.
382893ee-0e03-45e3-9321-db8b9fc74914
Hernándz Santisteban, J. V.
50e720e6-8b20-42ca-b172-a731a9429134
Paice, John A.
7d552577-a2fa-46ed-868c-7a10c685d07e
Beri, Aru
69ed346a-f02a-4243-83f9-ad5ab4c4008c
Tetarenko, B. E.
b62ce163-46fb-4989-b805-b6b2b5a78121
Bahramian, A.
1f016b89-98b9-4fa9-8df0-9390fbb5eeda
Altamirano, Diego
d5ccdb09-0b71-4303-9538-05b467be075b
Gandhi, Poshak
5bc3b5af-42b0-4dd8-8f1f-f74048d4d4a9
Sivakoff, G. R.
78946fc0-c772-46ea-8c7b-85e99b6e8844
Degenaar, N.
54149051-d74e-4e43-a7cd-501ec4023511
Middleton, M. J.
f91b89d9-fd2e-42ec-aa99-1249f08a52ad
Wijnands, R.
382893ee-0e03-45e3-9321-db8b9fc74914
Hernándz Santisteban, J. V.
50e720e6-8b20-42ca-b172-a731a9429134
Paice, John A.
7d552577-a2fa-46ed-868c-7a10c685d07e

Beri, Aru, Tetarenko, B. E., Bahramian, A., Altamirano, Diego, Gandhi, Poshak, Sivakoff, G. R., Degenaar, N., Middleton, M. J., Wijnands, R., Hernándz Santisteban, J. V. and Paice, John A. (2019) The black hole X-ray transient Swift J1357.2-0933 as seen with Swift and NuSTAR during its 2017 outburst. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 485 (3), 3064-3075. (doi:10.1093/mnras/stz616).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We report on observations of black hole Swift J1357.2-0933, a member of the modest population of very faint X-ray transients. This source has previously shown intense dips in the optical light curve, a phenomena that has been linked to the existence of a 'unique toroidal structure' in the inner region of the disc, seen at a high inclination. Our observations, carried out by the Neil Gehrels Swift and NuSTAR X-ray observatories, do not show the presence of intense dips in the optical light curves. We find that the X-ray light curves do not show any features that would straightforwardly support an edge-on configuration or high inclination configuration of the orbit. This is similar to what was seen in the X-ray observations of the source during its 2011 outburst. Moreover, the broad-band spectra were well described with an absorbed power-law model without any signatures of cut-off at energies above 10 keV, or any reflection from the disc or the putative torus. Thus, the X-ray data do not support the unique 'obscuring torus' scenario proposed for J1357. We also performed a multiwavelength study using the data of X-ray telescope and Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope aboard Swift, taken during the ∼4.5 months duration of the 2017 outburst. This is consistent with what was previously inferred for this source. We found a correlation between the simultaneous X-ray and ultraviolet/optical data and our study suggests that most of the reprocessed flux must be coming out in the ultraviolet.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 25 February 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 2 March 2019
Published date: May 2019
Keywords: Accretion, accretion discs, Black hole physics, Stars: black holes, X-rays: binaries, X-rays: individual: Swift J1357.2-0933

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 431937
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/431937
ISSN: 1365-2966
PURE UUID: d368ed2a-f760-4c17-8ff2-e589d1b431db
ORCID for Diego Altamirano: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3422-0074
ORCID for Poshak Gandhi: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3105-2615

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 21 Jun 2019 16:30
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:31

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Contributors

Author: Aru Beri
Author: B. E. Tetarenko
Author: A. Bahramian
Author: Poshak Gandhi ORCID iD
Author: G. R. Sivakoff
Author: N. Degenaar
Author: M. J. Middleton
Author: R. Wijnands
Author: J. V. Hernándz Santisteban
Author: John A. Paice

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