Extremely fast orbital decay of the black hole X-ray binary Nova Muscae 1991

Bibcode
2017MNRAS.465L..15G
DOI
10.1093/mnrasl/slw182
González Hernández, J. I.; Suárez-Andrés, L.; Rebolo, R.; Casares, J.
Bibliographical reference

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, Volume 465, Issue 1, p.L15-L19

Advertised on:
2
2017
Number of authors
4
IAC number of authors
4
Citations
24
Refereed citations
22
Description
We present new medium-resolution spectroscopic observations of the black hole X-ray binary Nova Muscae 1991 taken with X-Shooter spectrograph installed at the 8.2-m VLT telescope. These observations allow us to measure the time of inferior conjunction of the secondary star with the black hole in this system that, together with previous measurements, yield an orbital period decay of dot{P}=-20.7± 12.7 ms yr-1 (-24.5 ± 15.1 μs per orbital cycle). This is significantly faster than those previously measured in the other black hole X-ray binaries A0620-00 and XTE J1118+480. No standard black hole X-ray binary evolutionary model is able to explain this extremely fast orbital decay. At this rate, the secondary star would reach the event horizon (as given by the Schwarzschild radius of about 32 km) in roughly 2.7 Myr. This result has dramatic implications on the evolution and lifetime of black hole X-ray binaries.
Related projects
Black hole in outburst
Black holes, neutron stars, white dwarfs and their local environment

Accreting black-holes and neutron stars in X-ray binaries provide an ideal laboratory for exploring the physics of compact objects, yielding not only confirmation of the existence of stellar mass black holes via dynamical mass measurements, but also the best opportunity for probing high-gravity environments and the physics of accretion; the most

Montserrat
Armas Padilla
In progress
Type
Refereed
Black hole physics
Gravitation
Stellar & Interstellar Physics (FEEI)

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