Academic Journal
The Novel Obscured State of the Stellar-mass Black Hole GRS 1915+105.
| Title: | The Novel Obscured State of the Stellar-mass Black Hole GRS 1915+105. |
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| Authors: | Balakrishnan, M., Miller, J. M., Reynolds, M. T., Kammoun, E., Zoghbi, A., Tetarenko, B. E. |
| Source: | Astrophysical Journal; 3/1/2021, Vol. 909 Issue 1, p1-16, 16p |
| Abstract: | GRS 1915+105 is a stellar-mass black hole that is well known for exhibiting at least 12 distinct classes of X-ray variability and correlated multi-wavelength behavior. Despite such extraordinary variability, GRS 1915+105 remained one of the brightest sources in the X-ray sky. However, in early 2019, the source became much fainter, apparently entering a new accretion state. Here, we report the results of an extensive, year-long monitoring campaign of GRS 1915+105 with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. During this interval, the flux of GRS 1915+105 gradually diminished; the observed count rate eventually dropped by two orders of magnitude. Simple but robust spectral fits to these monitoring observations show that this new state results from the combination of a dramatic and persistent increase in internal obscuration, and a reduced mass accretion rate. The internal obscuration is the dominant effect, with a median value of N |
| Subject Terms: | COMPTON scattering, BLACK holes, X-ray binaries, MAGNITUDE (Mathematics) |
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| ISSN: | 0004637X |
| DOI: | 10.3847/1538-4357/abd6cb |
| Database: | Complementary Index |
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