Determining the Orbital Period and Wind Geometry in GRO J1655–40
During the course of its 2005 outburst, the black hole X-ray binary GRO J1655–40 launched an accretion disk wind associated with deep X-ray absorption lines and strong Compton scattering. Little is known about this apparently super-Eddington wind, but previous works have discovered optical/infrared...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acf837 |
| _version_ | 1827782905460424704 |
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| author | C. Petretti J. Neilsen J. Homan |
| author_facet | C. Petretti J. Neilsen J. Homan |
| author_sort | C. Petretti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During the course of its 2005 outburst, the black hole X-ray binary GRO J1655–40 launched an accretion disk wind associated with deep X-ray absorption lines and strong Compton scattering. Little is known about this apparently super-Eddington wind, but previous works have discovered optical/infrared (OIR) emission from the wind that varies on the orbital period—a possible clue to its origin and geometry. However, there is significant uncertainty in the orbital phases, and a more precise value of the orbital period is needed to accurately phase fold the wind emission. We present our analysis of the I -band photometry from observations taken with the Small and Medium Aperture Research Telescope System 1.3 m telescope between 2006 and 2016. We have implemented two methods—data-driven and model-based—to determine the orbital period, which we report as 2.62193 ± 0.00002 days from the data-driven method and 2.621928 ± 0.000004 days from the model-based method, a significant (25×) increase in precision over prior measurements. We discuss the possible existence of a period derivative, implications of a peculiar deep minimum in the outburst lightcurve of the system, and connections between OIR variability and the geometry of the super-Eddington wind. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:38:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c750aae1cd594fc28f3ba9b717fa3f8f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:38:30Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-c750aae1cd594fc28f3ba9b717fa3f8f2023-10-26T13:12:40ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0195714410.3847/1538-4357/acf837Determining the Orbital Period and Wind Geometry in GRO J1655–40C. Petretti0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9401-3117J. Neilsen1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8247-786XJ. Homan2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8371-2713Villanova University , Department of Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Villanova, PA 19085, USA ; catherine.petretti@cfa.harvard.edu; Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics , Cambridge, MA 02138, USAVillanova University , Department of Physics, Villanova, PA 19085, USA ; jneilsen@villanova.eduEureka Scientific , Inc., 2452 Delmer Street, Oakland, CA 94602, USA ; jeroen@space.mit.eduDuring the course of its 2005 outburst, the black hole X-ray binary GRO J1655–40 launched an accretion disk wind associated with deep X-ray absorption lines and strong Compton scattering. Little is known about this apparently super-Eddington wind, but previous works have discovered optical/infrared (OIR) emission from the wind that varies on the orbital period—a possible clue to its origin and geometry. However, there is significant uncertainty in the orbital phases, and a more precise value of the orbital period is needed to accurately phase fold the wind emission. We present our analysis of the I -band photometry from observations taken with the Small and Medium Aperture Research Telescope System 1.3 m telescope between 2006 and 2016. We have implemented two methods—data-driven and model-based—to determine the orbital period, which we report as 2.62193 ± 0.00002 days from the data-driven method and 2.621928 ± 0.000004 days from the model-based method, a significant (25×) increase in precision over prior measurements. We discuss the possible existence of a period derivative, implications of a peculiar deep minimum in the outburst lightcurve of the system, and connections between OIR variability and the geometry of the super-Eddington wind.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acf837AccretionBlack hole physicsX-ray binary starsStellar winds |
| spellingShingle | C. Petretti J. Neilsen J. Homan Determining the Orbital Period and Wind Geometry in GRO J1655–40 The Astrophysical Journal Accretion Black hole physics X-ray binary stars Stellar winds |
| title | Determining the Orbital Period and Wind Geometry in GRO J1655–40 |
| title_full | Determining the Orbital Period and Wind Geometry in GRO J1655–40 |
| title_fullStr | Determining the Orbital Period and Wind Geometry in GRO J1655–40 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Determining the Orbital Period and Wind Geometry in GRO J1655–40 |
| title_short | Determining the Orbital Period and Wind Geometry in GRO J1655–40 |
| title_sort | determining the orbital period and wind geometry in gro j1655 40 |
| topic | Accretion Black hole physics X-ray binary stars Stellar winds |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acf837 |
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