VERY LARGE TELESCOPE/X-SHOOTER SPECTROSCOPY OF THE CANDIDATE BLACK HOLE X-RAY BINARY MAXI J1659-152 IN OUTBURST
- Astronomical Institute 'Anton Pannekoek', University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via E. Bianchi 46, 23807 Merate (Italy)
- Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, Juliane Maries Vej 30, Copenhagen 2100 (Denmark)
- GEPI, Paris Observatory, CNRS, University of Paris-Diderot, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon (France)
- Laboratoire Astroparticule et Cosmologie, 10 rue A. Domon et L. Duquet, 75205 Paris Cedex 13 (France)
- IAA-CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomia s/n, 18008 Granada (Spain)
- Space Science Office, VP62, NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH (United Kingdom)
- European Space Agency, European Space Astronomy Centre, P.O. Box 78, 28691 Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid (Spain)
We present the optical to near-infrared spectrum of MAXI J1659-152 during the onset of its 2010 X-ray outburst. The spectrum was obtained with X-shooter on the ESO Very Large Telescope early in the outburst simultaneous with high-quality observations at both shorter and longer wavelengths. At the time of the observations, the source was in the low-hard state. The X-shooter spectrum includes many broad ({approx}2000 km s{sup -1}), double-peaked emission profiles of H, He I, and He II, characteristic signatures of a low-mass X-ray binary during outburst. We detect no spectral signatures of the low-mass companion star. The strength of the diffuse interstellar bands results in a lower limit to the total interstellar extinction of A{sub V} {approx_equal} 0.4 mag. Using the neutral hydrogen column density obtained from the X-ray spectrum we estimate A{sub V} {approx_equal} 1 mag. The radial velocity structure of the interstellar Na I D and Ca II H and K lines results in a lower limit to the distance of {approx}4 {+-} 1 kpc, consistent with previous estimates. With this distance and A{sub V} , the dereddened spectral energy distribution represents a flat disk spectrum. The two 10 minute X-shooter spectra show significant variability in the red wing of the emission-line profiles, indicating a global change in the density structure of the disk, though on a timescale much shorter than the typical viscous timescale of the disk.
- OSTI ID:
- 22048038
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 746, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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