Zoekopdracht:
faculteit: "FNWI" en publicatiejaar: "2010"
| Auteurs | D.M. Russell, F. Lewis, P. Roche, J.S. Clark, E. Breedt, R.P. Fender | | Titel | A long-term optical–X-ray correlation in 4U 1957+11 |
| Tijdschrift | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
| Jaargang | 402 |
| Jaar | 2010 |
| Nummer | 4 |
| Pagina's | 2671-2681 |
| ISSN | 00358711 |
| Faculteit | Faculteit der Natuurwetenschappen, Wiskunde en Informatica |
| Instituut/afd. | FNWI: Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek (IAP) |
| Samenvatting | Three years of optical monitoring of the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) 4U 1957+11 is presented. The source was observed in V, R and i bands using the Faulkes Telescopes North and South. The light curve is dominated by long-term variations which are correlated (at the >3σ level) with the soft X-ray flux from the All Sky Monitor on board the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. The variations span 1 mag in all three filters. We find no evidence for periodicities in our light curves, contrary to a previous short-time-scale optical study in which the flux varied on a 9.3-h sinusoidal period by a smaller amplitude. The optical spectral energy distribution is blue and typical of LMXBs in outburst, as is the power-law index of the correlation β= 0.5, where Fν,OPT∝FβX. The discrete cross-correlation function reveals a peak at an X-ray lag of 2–14 days, which could be the viscous time-scale. However, adopting the least-squares method we find the strongest correlation at a lag of 0 ± 4 d, consistent with X-ray reprocessing on the surface of the disc. We therefore constrain the optical lag behind X-ray to be between −14 and +4 d. In addition, we use the optical–X-ray luminosity diagram for LMXBs as a diagnostic tool to constrain the nature of the compact object in 4U 1957+11, since black hole and neutron star sources reside in different regions of this diagram. It is found that if the system contains a black hole (as is the currently favoured hypothesis), its distance must exceed ∼20 kpc for the optical and X-ray luminosities to be consistent with other soft-state black hole systems. For distances <20 kpc, the data lie in a region of the diagram populated only by neutron star sources (black hole systems are 10 times optically brighter for this X-ray luminosity). 4U 1957+11 is unique: it is either the only black hole LMXB to exist in an apparent persistent soft state or a neutron star LMXB which behaves like a black hole. |
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