Bibcode
Homan, J.; Fridriksson, Joel K.; Jonker, Peter G.; Russell, D. M.; Gallo, Elena; Kuulkers, Erik; Rea, Nanda; Altamirano, Diego
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 775, Issue 1, article id. 9, 6 pp. (2013).
Advertised on:
9
2013
Journal
Citations
35
Refereed citations
34
Description
We present new Chandra X-ray observations of the transient black hole
X-ray binary MAXI J1659-152 in quiescence. These observations were made
more than one year after the end of the source's 2010-2011 outburst. We
detect the source at a 0.5-10 keV flux of 2.8(8) ×
10–15 erg s–1 cm–2,
which corresponds to a luminosity of ~1.2 × 1031 (d/6
kpc)2 erg s–1. This level, while being the
lowest at which the source has been detected, is within factors of ~2 of
the levels seen at the end of the initial decay of the outburst and soon
after a major reflare of the source. The quiescent luminosity of MAXI
J1659-152, which is the shortest-orbital-period black hole X-ray binary
(~2.4 hr), is lower than that of neutron-star X-ray binaries with
similar periods. However, it is higher than the quiescent luminosities
found for black hole X-ray binaries with orbital periods ~2-4 times
longer. This could imply that a minimum quiescent luminosity may exist
for black hole X-ray binaries, around orbital periods of ~5-10 hr, as
predicted by binary-evolution models for the mass transfer rate.
Compared to the hard state, we see a clear softening of the power-law
spectrum in quiescence, from an index of 1.55(4) to an index of 2.5(4).
We constrain the luminosity range in which this softening starts to
(0.18-6.2) × 10–5 (d/6 kpc)2 (M/8 M
☉) L Edd, which is consistent with the
ranges inferred for other sources.
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